
Copyright^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



BASKERVILL-SEWELL ENGLISH COURSE 

A SCHOOL GRAMMAR 

OF THE 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

REVISED EDITION 

BY 

W. M. BASKERVILL 

LATE PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE 
IN VANDERB1LT UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENN. 

AND 

J. W. SEWELL 

SUPERVISOR OF GRAMMAR-SCHOOL STUDIES, CITY SCHOOLS 
NASHVILLE, TENN. 



o^Ko 



NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



•£ 39 , 



n»l 



BASKERVILL-SEWELL ENGLISH COURSE 



LANGUAGE LESSONS 

FOR LOWER GRAMMAR GRADES 



SCHOOL GRAMMAR 

FOR UPPER GRAMMAR GRADES 

ENGLISH GRAMMAR 

FOR HIGH SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES 



/0> 



Copyright, 1900, 1903, by 
W. M. BASKERVILL and J. W. SEWELL. 

Copyright, 1909, by 
J. W. SEWELL. 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London. 



BASKERVILL-SEWELL ENG. COURSE. 
SCH. GRAM. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

Two Gooies Received 

MAY 6 1809 

„_ Copyriupt tntry - 
CLASS A, XXc No, 

2.3 2 6 2-5" 

COPY 3. 



PREFACE 

Only those who, by teaching English grammar, come 
into close contact with the young pupil, can know the 
difficulty of securing a satisfactory text-book. The prob- 
lem of making an elementary treatise that is scholarly as 
well as sufficiently simple is one not easy of solution. 

The temptation to make a subject easy by mechanical 
devices or by short-cut methods is strong with the teacher ; 
and the writer who supplies the text-book is strongly 
drawn to those expedients that will make the manual 
merely the most teachable. On the other hand, there is 
a temptation to the student of historical English to sup- 
pose the grammar school child not only eager for the 
intricacies of linguistic development, but able to com- 
prehend them. 

The truth, as it appears to the present authors, is that 
the child wishes indeed to attain his ends by the most 
direct methods possible, but that he also desires to under- 
stand that which he labors upon. If he is confronted 
with the ramifications of historical grammar, his young 
mind is led aside from the direct road to knowledge ; if he 
is taught unscholarly subterfuges, he will find more diffi- 
culties than the text-books attempted to avoid. 

The following pages are the result of a systematic effort 
to combine simplicity with correctness. The same systems 
of numbering and grouping that characterized our " Eng- 
lish Grammar " are followed in this book. The same 

3 



4 PREFACE 

simplicity and directness of statement also appear. In 
all cases the pupil, not the teacher, is addressed. 

The illustrative sentences are taken from standard lit- 
erature. While the various authors' names are not given, 
it is hoped that the high plane upon which the science of 
grammar is thus placed will have its educative effect upon 
the pupil. 

The series of sentences at the close of each of the parts 
of speech may be used either for parsing or to supplement 
previous illustrative exercises. Exercises in syntax are 
included for the convenience of teachers who find such 
work desirable, but they can be readily omitted by those 
who disapprove of them. 

The chapter on Analysis will form a useful review of 
facts presented in the logical development of parts of 
speech. As the treatment of the subject includes the 
addition of such notes as are needed for a full understand- 
ing of the nature of the sentence, it will afford a profitable 
study in itself. 



PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION 

In this revision, a still further effort towards simplicity 
has been made, without impairing in any way the correct- 
ness of the scholarship. Attention is called especially to 
these features : omission of subdivisions wherever this is 
helpful ; easier illustrative sentences wherever necessary, 
though these are still from good literature ; parallel-column 
treatment of indicative and subjunctive moods; full Out- 
line for Teaching (pages 205-208) ; and Review Chart 
(pages 209-213). 



CONTENTS 
INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

Preliminary Definitions 7 

Parts of Speech — Outline 8 

Analysis — Outline 14 

PARTS OF SPEECH 

Nouns . . . 21 

Classes of Nouns .......... 21 

Gender 24 

Number ............ 28 

Case 33 

Person 39 

Parsing of Nouns .40 

Syntax of Nouns 41 

Capitals and Punctuation ........ 43 

Pronouns 46 

Classes of Pronouns 46 

Personal Pronouns .......... 48 

Interrogative Pronouns • 5^ 

Relative Pronouns .......... 59 

Adjective Pronouns 71 

Parsing of Pronouns ......... 75 

Syntax of Pronouns 75 

Adjectives S3 

Classes of Adjectives ......... 83 

Number and Comparison ........ 86 

Parsing of Adjectives . . . . . . . . .89 

Syntax of Adjectives 90 

Articles 93 

Verbs and Verbals 96 

Classes of Verbs .......... 97 

Tense 99 

Voice ............ 103 

Person and Number ......... 105 

Mood 106 

5 



6 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Verbs and Verbals (continued} : 

Conjugation ...... . . . . .114 

Strong and Weak Verbs 117 

Defective Verbs 122 

Verbals • . . .126 

Parsing of Verbs and Verbals . . . . . . . 133 

Syntax of Verbs and Verbals . . . „ . . . .136 

Direct and Indirect Discourse . . . . . . . 140 

Adverbs 143 

Classes of Adverbs 144 

Comparison of Adverbs 146 

Parsing of Adverbs . . . 147 

Syntax of Adverbs 148 

Conjunctions 151 

Classes of Conjunctions 151 

Parsing of Conjunctions 156 

Syntax of Conjunctions 158 

Prepositions . . 161 

Classes of Prepositions . 161 

Parsing of Prepositions . . . . . . . . 1 64 

Syntax of Prepositions 165 

Interjections 167 

EXERCISES IN SYNTAX 

Nouns 168 

Pronouns 169 

Adjectives 174 

Articles 175 

Verbs 176 

Verbals . 180 

Adverbs . .181 

Conjunctions 182 

Prepositions 184 

ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 

Classification according to Form 185 

Simple Sentences 186 

Complex Sentences ■ . . 195 

Compound Sentences 201 



INTRODUCTION 

A sentence is the complete expression of a thought in 
words. 

Language is made up of sentences, and in forming sen- 
tences a writer or a speaker must choose words according 
to their use and their meaning. 

In the study of grammar we are to separate sentences 
into their parts, so as to study the nature of the words, 
their forms, and their uses. For example, in the sentence, 
" Children learn," one may see that the two words are not 
of the same nature, for children is the name of persons, 
and learn tells what they do. Again, grammar will ask 
why the form children is used instead of child or child's 
or children's, and why learn is used instead of learns or 
learned ; and so on. 

English grammar treats of the forms of English words, 
their uses, and their relations to one another in the sentence. 

One way of studying the nature of the thousands of 
English words is to divide them into parts of speech. The 
parts of speech are the different classes of words used in 
the expression of thought. 

In the sentence, "Children learn," it is plain that the 
two words belong to different classes ; that is, they are 
different parts of speech. 

In studying the parts of speech the purposes will be to 
find out : first, how to classify words according to their 

7 



8 INTRODUCTION 

use and meaning ; second, what forms words may take 
to express relations to other parts of the sentence ; third, 
when it is proper to use one form and when another. 

Another way of studying sentences is by analysis, which 
means separating a sentence into its elements so as to show 
their relations to one another. 

These two methods of studying the sentence cannot be 
kept strictly separate, for some knowledge of each is 
needed in order fully to understand the other; hence 
a short treatment of both should be given before making 
a more thorough study of either. 

PARTS OF SPEECH— OUTLINE 

In order to understand the parts of speech it will be nec- 
essary to study the uses of words in sentences ; thus : — 

NOUNS 

(a) He was tumbled headlong into the dust ; and Gunpowder, the 
black steed, and the goblin passed by like a whirlwind. 

The words dust, Gunpowder, steed, goblin, and whirl- 
wind are names of things. In order to know again any- 
thing we have once known, we usually give it a name ; 
and the name word is called a noun. 

Exercise 
Mention the nouns in these sentences : — 

i. The house has two rooms. 

2. The tiger followed the man. 

3. Pupils put their books upon the desks. 

4. The farmer sows seed in the ground. 

5. The coach was crowded, both inside and out, with passengers, 



PARTS OF SPEECH 9 

who, by their talk, seemed principally bound to the mansions of rela- 
tions or friends, to eat the Christmas dinner. It was loaded also with 
hampers of game, and baskets and boxes of delicacies ; and hares hung 
dangling their long ears about the coachman's box, presents from dis- 
tant friends for the impending feast. 

PRONOUNS 

(b) So intent were the servants upon their sports that we had to 
ring repeatedly before we could make ourselves heard. 

Instead of saying, " So intent were the servants upon 
the servants' sports," the writer here makes the sentence 
shorter and smoother by putting the word their for the 
servants . Their is called a pronoun, meaning for or in- 
stead of a name. Again, instead of the name of the 
writer and that of his friend, the words we and ourselves 
are used. They also are pronouns. 

Exercise 1 

In the following sentence each pronoun is in italics ; tell what each 
one stands for : — 

" Lazy Kvvasind ! " said his father, 

"In the hunt you never help me; 

Every bow you touch is broken, 

Snapped asunder every arrow ; 

Yet come with me to the forest, 

You shall bring the hunting homeward." 

Exercise 2 

Find the pronouns in these sentences, and tell what each one stands 
for: — 

1. We were learning our lessons. 

2. This girl has lost her purse. 

3. All the trees have dropped their leaves. 

4. You have not opened your book. 



10 INTRODUCTION 



ADJECTIVES 



(c) A fine day, however, with a tranquil sea and favoring breeze, 
soon put these dismal reflections to flight. 

It will be noticed that the words fine, tranquil, favoring, 
and dismal describe, or tell what kind of object or thing is 
spoken of ; fine tells what kind of day, tranquil what kind 
of sea, etc. Such words are called adjectives, and each 
one is joined to a noun to describe the thing named. 

Exercise 

Mention the adjectives in the following sentences, and tell what 
noun each limits : — 

i . Great trees from little acorns grow. 

2. The flag has red and white stripes. 

3. What beautiful flowers you have ! 

4. Our yard has large trees and broad walks. 

5. A river was springing from a new cleft of the rocks, and was 
flowing in innumerable streams among the dry heaps of red sand. As 
Gluck gazed, fresh grass sprang beside the new streams, and creeping 
plants grew and climbed among the moistening soil. 

VERBS 

(d) As we passed over a rising ground which commanded some- 
thing of a prospect, the sounds of rustic merriment now and then 
reached our ears. 

This sentence makes some statements; but if the words 
passed, commanded, and reached were left out, no state- 
ment would be made. These words are called verbs, since 
they are used for making statements about persons or 
things : passed tells what we did ; reached tells what the 
sounds did, etc. 



PARTS OF SPEECH II 

Exercise 

Mention the verbs in the following sentences, and tell what each 
makes a statement about : — 

i. The storm rattled the windows. 

2. Somebody wrote me a long letter. 

3. Our teacher read us a story. 

4. Albert threw the ball away. 

5. They worked their servants without any wages, till they would 
not work any more, and then quarreled with them and turned them out 
of doors. It would have been very odd if with such a farm and such 
a system of farming they had not got very rich ; and very rich they did 
get. 

ADVERBS 

(e) The English have always been fond of those festivals and 
holidays which agreeably interrupt the stillness of country life. 

The statement, " The English have been fond of those 
festivals,'' is modified, or changed in meaning, by the word 
always, which expresses time, or tells how long ; always 
is called an adverb, that is, a word joined to a verb, to 
modify the meaning. Likewise the word agreeably modi- 
fies interrupt, and tells the way, or manner, of the action. 

Exercise 

Mention the adverbs in the exercises under (a), (b), (d), and (g), 
and tell what verb each modifies. 

CONJUNCTIONS 

(/) He passed the tree in safety, but new perils lay before him. 

Here two statements are made, and they are united into 
one sentence by the word but. A word that connects 
words or groups of words is called a conjunction. It 
merely links, or joins, but does nothing more. 



12 INTRODUCTION 

Exercise i 

The conjunctions are in italics below; tell what words or word 
groups each connects : — 

i . Dawn came at last, and the two brothers looked out of Gluck's 
window in the morning. 

2. Schwartz gnashed his teeth with rage and shook the bars, but 
Hans only laughed at him. 

3. There was no bread in the house, nor any money ; so Gluck hired 
himself to another goldsmith. 

4. The path became easier to his feet, and two or three blades of 
grass appeared upon it. 

Exercise 2 

Point out the conjunctions in the following sentences, and tell what 
each connects : — 

1. This street has houses new and old. 

2. God rules on the land and on the sea. 

3. Go now, or stay with me. 

4. He spoke quietly, but firmly. 

PREPOSITIONS 

(g) The rays of a bright morning sun had a dazzling effect among 
the glittering leaves. 

In this sentence it is necessary to express some con- 
nection and relation between rays and sun, also between 
had a dazzling effect and leaves. The expression of a 
bright morning sun clearly shows possession or source; 
the word 0/" connects rays and sun, and shows the relation 
of possession or source. Among connects the verb had 
with the noun leaves and expresses the relation of place. 
A word that connects words and shows the relation be- 
tween them is called a preposition. 



PARTS OF SPEECH 1 3 

Exercise 

Point out the prepositions in these sentences, and tell between what 
words they show relation : — 

i. The helmet fell from his head. 

2. The door sprang open at the third stroke of the wand. 

3. The old king was angry with his youngest son. 

4. From a hollow tree the Hedgehog 
With his sleepy eyes looked at him. 

INTERJECTIONS 

There is one other class of words to be noted, those that 
merely express feeling; as, Alas! What! Psha! Ho! 
They are called interjections, which means thrown into 
the midst. They are merely dropped into the sentence to 
attract attention, and have no part in building up the sen- 
tence. They are not properly parts of speech. 

USE DETERMINES PARTS OF SPEECH 

Some words may be several parts of speech, according 
to the use they have in different places. It is the use, 
not the form of an English word, that determines what 
part of speech it is. For example, " An excited crowd 
swept by " (adverb) ; "Crowds were running by the jail" 
(preposition); "They heard that he still lived" (adverb); 
"The waves are ^7/" (adjective). 

Exercise 

Write sentences using words as directed below : — 

(1) Handle as a noun and a verb. (2) Light as noun, adjective, 
verb. (3) Brown as noun, adjective, verb. (4) Before as adverb, 
preposition, conjunction. (5) Water as noun, adjective, verb. (6) Iron 



14 INTRODUCTION 

as noun, adjective, verb. (7) In as adverb and preposition. (8) Past 
as noun, adjective, adverb, preposition. (9) While as noun, verb, and 
conjunction. 

ANALYSIS - OUTLINE 

Analysis is a very important subject in grammar, lying 
at the basis of most of the work in mastering good English. 

A person can much better understand what he reads if 
he is able to tell at a glance the relations of all the parts of 
a sentence. While studying the parts of speech it is neces- 
sary to describe the use of words by their relations to one 
another in the sentence. This depends on analysis, and is 
to be learned only by careful thinking. Then, too, in writ- 
ing sentences, no one can tell where to use the marks of 
punctuation without knowing when the sentence is com- 
plete, and what parts of it are related, and how. 

For analysis, take the following sentence : — 

The golden sun poured a dusty beam through the closed blinds. 

Every sentence must have at least two parts : that of 
which something is said, and that which is said of it. The 
golden sun is called the subject, because it is the part 
brought especially to our notice, — that of which some- 
thing is said ; the rest of the sentence is called the predi- 
cate, because it declares or says something about the 
subject. As no sentence can be made without these two 
members, they are often called the main or principal ele- 
ments of the sentence. 

Now, noticing more closely, we find that the one word 
sun names that of which the statement is made, and sun is 
modified by the and golden. The golden sun is called the 



ANALYSIS 15 

complete subject; sun is the simple subject, and the and 
golden are modifiers of the simple subject. 

We also find that poured a dusty beam through the closed 
blinds is the complete predicate ; poured alone is the simple 
predicate. The expression through the closed blinds tells 
where, and is a modifier of the simple predicate. 

Exercise 

Mention the complete subject and predicate, then the simple subject 
and predicate, of the following sentences : — 

1 . A ragged boy came into the room. 

2. My best friend came here with me. 

3. All your toys are scattered over the floor. 

4. Suddenly came a loud shout. 

5. That garden has beautiful flowers. 

6. The old gardener is working diligently. 

7. Slowly and carefully the boy wrote. 

8. This work was done neatly. 

9. Her old books were sold yesterday. 
10. Every child should walk lightly. 

Further, in the sentence "The . . . blinds," on p. 14, the 
meaning of the verb is not complete without the words a 
dusty beam. The sun poured — what, through the closed 
blinds ? Answer, a dusty beam. Poured expresses action, 
and beam names that which receives the action of the verb ; 
such a word is called the direct object of the verb. Beam is 
modified by a and dusty. The subject or object may be 
modified by a group of words, introduced by a preposition. 

Exercises 

1. Write six sentences using the following words as subjects of 
verbs : ink, paper, lion, bear, lily, rose. 



16 INTRODUCTION 

2. Rewrite the six sentences in (i) so as to have an adjective modi- 
fying each subject. 

3. Mention the complete subject of each sentence that you wrote 
in (2). 

4. Write six sentences using the following verbs as predicates : 
walks, found, howl, played, look, saw. 

5. Change the sentences in (4) so as to have an adverb modifying 
each verb. 

6. Mention the complete predicate of each sentence that you wrote 
in (s). 

7. Write sentences using as direct objects the words in (1) above. 

Example : The nurse threw the rose away. 

To sum up, the main elements are : — 

(1) The complete subject. 

(2) The complete predicate. 

After full analysis, we find in the sentence on p. 14: — 

(1) The simple subject. 

(2) The modifiers of the subject. 

(3) The simple predicate. 

(4) A modifier of the predicate. 

(5) The simple direct object. 

(6) The modifiers of the direct object. 

In order to complete the list, however, some more 
sentences must be examined. The following may be 
taken : — 

1. Her eyes became red from weeping. 

2. The frost made the leaves yellow. 

3. This fell sergeant, Death, is strict in his arrest. 

In sentence ( 1 ) became is the simple predicate, but as it 
does not express action, it cannot have an object. The 
adjective red completes the meaning of the predicate and 



ANALYSIS 17 

expresses quality of the subject. Such a verb is called 
intransitive, and such completing words are called comple- 
ments. 

In sentence (2) the simple predicate made is a transitive 
verb, but it is not complete even with the object leaves. 
The expression, "The frost made the leaves," is not clear; 
if we say, "made the leaves yellow," or "made yellow the 
leaves," it is plain at once how necessary is the word yellow. 
Leaves is really the object, not of made, but of made yellow. 
The -word yellow is a complement, completing the verb made, 
and is also an adjunct of the direct object. 

Exercise 

(a) In the following sentences tell which words are complements : — 

1 . The old man became very poor. 

2. Disease made the old man poor. 

3. Our new lessons seem hard. 

4. Diligent study makes hard things easy. 

5. This tree will soon grow tall. 

(b) Write five sentences having complements, some after transitive 
and some after intransitive verbs. 

In sentence (3), p. 16, the subject sergeant needs the word 
Death to explain it ; the latter, indeed, is equivalent to the 
added statement, " And his name is Death." A word thus 
added to another to modify and explain it is called an appos- 
itive word, or a term in apposition with another. 

Add now these three to the list of elements : — 

(7) The complement of an intransitive verb. 

(8) The complement of a transitive verb. 

(9) An appositional modifier. 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — 2 



18 



INTRODUCTION 



Exercise 
(a) In the following sentences, which nouns are in apposition? 

i . My friend Henry came with me. 

2. Washington, our first President, was a Virginian. 

3. Tell Albert, the porter, to come at once. 

4. The best wrestler is your cousin George. 

5. My brother, the lawyer, has moved away. 

(&) Write five similar sentences of your own. 



SUMMARY FOR REVIEW 



Divisions of Grammar { 



J Parts of Speech. 



Parts of Speech 



Parts of a Sentence 
(by Analysis) 



[ Analysis. 

Nouns. 

Pronouns. 

Adjectives. 

Verbs. 

Adverbs. 

Conjunctions. 

Prepositions. 

Interjections. 

Main Elements — 

Subject : complete, simple. 

Predicate : complete, simple. 
Subordinate Elements — 

Modifiers of Subject. 

Modifiers of Predicate. 

Direct Object. 

Modifiers of Direct Object. 

_ f of Intransitive Verb 

Complement \ rrT , .. TT . 
[ of Transitive Verb. 

Appositional Term. 



SUMMARY FOR REVIEW 19 

Review Exercise — Parts of Speech 

Tell what part of speech each italicized word is in the following sen- 
tences : — 

1 . Pandora stood gazing at the box. 

2. // was made of a beautiful kind of wood. 

3. The surface was so highly polished that she could see her face in it. 

4. Around the margin were figures of graceful men and women. 

5. These various objects were exquisitely represented. 

6. The most beautiful face of all was in the center of the lid. 

7. Pandora had looked at this face a great many times. 

8. The features wore a very lively and mischievous expression. 

9. Manners are an art. Some are perfect, some commendable, some 
faulty ; but there are none that are ofxio moment. 



Review Exercises — Analysis 

(a) Give definition of: complete subject, complete predicate ; simple 
subject, simple predicate ; direct object ; transitive verb, intransitive 
verb ; complement ; appositional term. 

(J?) Write sentences using the following words as subjects : book, 
pencil, slate, door, window, playground, apple, button, dollar, stove. 

(c) Write sentences using the above words as objects of transitive 
verbs. 

(d) Write sentences in which the above words are modified by 
adjectives. 

(e) Change the sentences of (V) so that the verbs shall be modified 
by adverbs. 

(f) Write five sentences having nouns in apposition with other 
nouns. Write five sentences having nouns as complements of in- 
transitive verbs. Write five sentences having adjectives as comple- 
ments of intransitive verbs. 

(g) Show by analysis the difference between, — 

1. All good souls praise the Lord. 

2. All good souls, praise the Lord. 



20 INTRODUCTION 

(Ji) Find the complete subject and the complete predicate of each of 
the following sentences : — 

i . The poor girl could only sit and weep. 

2. The little man slipped the beads into his pocket. 

3. These riches made the king even more greedy. 

4. The young man said good-by to the princess. 

5. The two older brothers wanted to light a fire under the tree in 
order to kill the bees. 

6. These three sleeping maidens were just alike. 

7. The prince and his servant went from house to house with the 
slipper. 

8. Very dear to Hiawatha 
Was the gentle Chibiabos. 

(z) Analyze in full these sentences : — 

1. I particularly noticed one young woman of humble dress but 
interesting demeanor. 

2. My holiday afternoons were spent in rambles about the sur- 
rounding country. 

3. Manners make beauty superfluous and ugly. 

4. Never did Christmas board display a more goodly and gracious 
assemblage of countenances. 

5. The interior of the church was venerable but simple. 

6. A river formed the boundary — the river Meuse. 

7. I made myself familiar with all its places famous in history or 
fable. 

8. I admired for the hundredth time that picture of convenience, 
neatness, and broad, honest enjoyment, the kitchen of an English inn. 

9. The temperate are the most truly luxurious. 

10. The joyous disposition of the worthy Squire was perfectly con- 
tagious. 



PARTS OF SPEECH 

NOUNS 
CLASSES OF NOUNS 

1. Let us examine this sentence : — 

In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas, 
Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand Pre* 
Lay in the fruitful valley. 

We find that two words are names of particular places : 
Basin of Minas and Grand Pre. The names are used 
only when the purpose is to speak of these places and 
no others. They are called proper nouns, from a Latin 
word meaning ones own, belonging to one person or thing. 

A proper noun is a name of a particular person or place. 

But there are other names in the sentence ; namely, 
land, shores, village, valley. These are general names : 
we may speak of the land of America, or the land of 
any state, county, or other division ; we may refer to the 
shores of the Gulf of Mexico, or the Atlantic Ocean, or 
of any lake, sea, etc.; so with village, valley, and similar 
words. They are called common nouns, because common 
means belonging to any of a class. 

A common noun is a name applied to any one of a class 
of persons, animals, or things. 

2. Study now these additional sentences : — 

i. The savage army was in war paint, plumed for battle. 
2. No man is so sunk in vice and ignorance but there are still some 
hidden seeds of goodness and knowledge in him. 

21 



22 PARTS OF SPEECH 

In (i), the word army is a general name, a common 
noun ; but it differs from the class nouns of Section i in 
being the name of a number of persons taken together. 
Hence it is called a collective noun. Nouns of this kind 
are in very frequent use; as, fleet, herd, flock, crowd, party. 

The word war paint is a common noun, being a name 
of general application ; but instead of being the name of 
a separate object it is the name of a substance, of the 
material of which something is composed. Such are 
called nouns of material; other examples are glass, iron, 
clay, silk, etc. 

3. In sentence (2), the words vice, ignorance, goodness, 
and knowledge are not names of objects, but of qualities. 
All are derived from other parts of speech. To explain : 
a person leads a vicious life (adjective) or a life of vice 
(noun); he knows (verb) or has knowledge (noun), etc. 
In each case where the noun is used, action or quality or 
condition is not asserted of the person, but is only named, 
or spoken of in the abstract ; that is, apart from the 
object to which it belongs. All names of quality, con- 
dition, or action are abstract nouns. 

4. A collective noun is a name of a group of persons 
or things taken together. 

A material noun is a name of the substance of which 

a thing is composed. 

An abstract noun is a name of a condition, quality, or 

action. 

Exercises 

1. Use the following common nouns in sentences: table, orange, 
ceiling, clock, coal, iron, railroad, steamer. 



NOUNS 23 

2. Make a list of ten other common nouns, and use them in 
sentences. 

3. Find in a text-book of geography five proper nouns, also five in 
a text-book of history, and use these words in sentences. 

4. Use in sentences the collective nouns that you find on p. 22. 

5. Write the verbs and adjectives from which the following ab- 
stract nouns are derived : — 

warmth recollection astonishment 

usefulness pleasure merriment 

6. Write the abstract nouns that are derived from the following 
verbs and adjectives : — 

courteous serve happy 

grateful satisfy appear 

7. Use the following abstract nouns in sentences : weight, bril- 
liancy, truth, fear, neatness, width, care, neglect. 

8. Of which class is each of the following italicized nouns? — 

He was a kind and thankful creature, whose heart dilated in propor- 
tion as his skin was filled with good cheer, and whose spirits rose with 
eating as some metfs do with drink. He could not help, too, rolling 
his large eyes round him as he ate, and chuckling with the possibility 
that he might one day be lord of all this scene of almost unimaginable 
splendor. Then, he thought, how soon he'd turn his back upon the 
old schoolhouse ; snap his fingers in the face of Hans Van Ripper, and 
every other niggardly patron', and kick any itinerant pedagogue out of 
doors that should dare to call him co7nrade ! 

9. Write one or more class names corresponding to each collective 
noun in the following list : — 

Swarm, drove, school, flock, regiment, crew, committee. 

Example : A swarm of bees ox gnats ox flies, etc. 

10. Write one or more collective nouns corresponding to each class 
noun in the following list : — 

Ruffian, room, horse, listener, girl, neighbor, camel, citizen. 

Example : A horde or band or mob of ruffians. 

[Note to Teacher. — Pupils may be instructed to make up sen- 
tences of their own, or to select them from books. The latter plan is 
far better, as it keeps the pupil's attention upon good literature.] 



24 PARTS OF SPEECH 

5. Inflection means a change of form that a word 

undergoes to express a change in its use or meaning. 

For example : street, streets ; George, George ^s ; he, him ; tall, taller ; 
drive, drove ; soon, sooner. 

Nouns have three kinds of inflection : gender, number, 
and case. 

GENDER 

6. One way to classify individual persons and to distin- 
guish them from inanimate things is to speak of their sex; 
hence, all are divided into male and female. 

In English grammar the words used as names of persons 
or animals are classified in a way to correspond to the sex 
of the living beings themselves : thus, the name of a male 
being is said to be of the masculine gender ; the name of a 
female, of the feminine gender. The term sex belongs to 
the person or animal; the term gender belongs to the 
word naming the person or animal. 

Names of inanimate things are called neuter, the word 
meaning neither masculine nor feminine. 

Gender is the form or use of a word to designate an 
object as male, female, or without sex. 

Examples : Man, horse, ox, masculine ; woman, mare, cow, feminine; 
book, stove, chalk, neuter. 

7. There is one class of words to which some attention 
should be given : persons may be referred to by nouns 
that do not determine the sex ; as, cousin, teacher, acquaint- 
ance, friend, parent. If these are used in the sentence in 
such a way that the sex is made clear, they are at once 
classified as masculine or feminine. If the sentence does 
not show the sex of the person in question, the pupil 



NOUNS 25 

should merely say the nouns name living beings that may 
be of either sex. 

Exercises 

i . Use in sentences five masculine nouns. 

2. Use in sentences five feminine nouns. 

3. Use in sentences five neuter nouns. 

4. Use in sentences the words cousin, teacher, acquaintance, friend, 
parent, so as not to show the sex of the person. 

Example : My coiisin will arrive to-day at noon. 

5. Use the words in Exercise 4 so as to show the sex of the person. 
Example : My cousin will bring his gun. 

6. Tell the gender of each of these nouns : — 

emperor religion moon 

town animal grandfather 

prince empress soldier 

8. Gender forms belong only to masculine and femi- 
nine nouns. We have three ways by which the feminine 
noun is distinguished from the masculine : — 

(1) By placing a gender word before one without gender. 

(2) By adding a suffix to a masculine word. 

(3) By using a different word for each gender. 

9. A prefix is a syllable added at the beginning of a 
word ; as, ///z-truth, mis-s^oW. A suffix is a syllable added 
at the end of a word ; as, txuth-ful, \dndi-ness. 

I. Gender shown by Compounds 

10. The pronouns he and she are often prefixed to a 
noun that does not indicate sex: as, he-goat, she-goat; 
he-wolf, she-wolf. 

Nouns indicating gender are often employed in the same 
way : as, manservant, maidservant ; salesman, saleswoman. 



26 PARTS OF SPEECH 

Frequently, instead of adding the suffix spoken of in 
Section 1 1 , a feminine word is used before a noun that is 
clearly masculine in form. Examples are: doctor, lawyer; 
woman doctor, woman lawyer. 

II. Gender shown by Suffixes 

11. The suffix now most used to form a feminine from 
a masculine noun is -ess ; as, giant, giantess. 

Some points in spelling should be noticed here : — 
(i) Some words do not change their form before adding 
the suffix ; as, host, hostess ; baron, baroness. 

(2) Words of one syllable ending in a single consonant 
preceded by a single vowel double the final consonant 
before adding the suffix ; as, god, goddess. 

(3) A letter or a syllable may be dropped and -ess 
added to the root of the word; as, abbot, abbess ; sorcerer, 
sorceress. 

(4) A vowel preceding the final consonant may be 
dropped before adding -ess ; as, actor, actress ; enchanter, 
enchantress. 

12. As stated in Section 10, it is customary now to use 
a gender word before the masculine instead of writing 
editress, doctress, waitress, etc. ; that is, if we wish to make 
an emphatic contrast to the masculine form. Ordinarily, 
however, the masculine form is used to represent the 
feminine, the context showing the sex of the person. 

Not only the words author, poet, nurse, teacher, etc., but 
also lawyer, preacher, librarian, doctor, dentist, artist, 
sculptor, architect, editor, bookkeeper, cashier, superintend- 
ent, and others frequently refer to women, who have 



NOUNS 27 

entered these professions ; while in using such words as 
dressmaker, housekeeper, typewriter, we hardly think of a 
man. 

Exercise. — Tell the gender of each noun in the sentences on pages 
42 and 43. 

13. A few words from foreign languages, with their 
original suffixes, are in good use as English words. Those 
most often met with are the following pairs : — 

administrator, administratrix hero, heroine 

beau, belle senor, senora 

czar, czarina signor, signora 

don, donna sultan, sultana 

executor, executrix testator, testatrix 

Exercise. — Write sentences using all the foreign words given in this 
list. 

III. Gender shown by Different Words 

14. This distinction between masculine and feminine is 
not made by inflection, but by the use of pairs of words 
entirely unlike in form. The most important are : — 

bachelor, maid or spinster uncle, aunt 

boy, girl wizard, witch 

brother, sister boar, sow 

earl, countess buck, doe 

father, mother bull, cow 

husband, wife bullock, heifer 

king, queen drake, duck 

lord, lady gander, goose 

monk, nun hart, roe 

nephew, niece horse, mare 

son, daughter ram, ewe 

tutor, governess sire, dam 



2$ PARTS OF SPEECH 

Exercises 

i . The teacher should dictate a list of words, some masculine and 
some feminine, selected at random, and have the pupils write the corre- 
sponding word for each of these. 

2. Write five sentences containing masculine nouns, and five using 
the same words as feminine nouns. (See Section 12.) 

NUMBER 

15. Number is the form or use of a word to show 
whether one person or thing is meant, or more than one. 

Words meaning one thing, as table, porch, lily, are said 
to be of the singular number; those meaning more than 
one, as tables, porches, lilies, are of the plural number. 

16. The most common way of forming the plural of 
nouns is by adding -s or -es. Any new words adopted into 
the language take this inflection. 

Two other ways of forming the plural are found, but 
these do not apply to a large number of words : by adding 
•en, and by a change in the vowel of the word itself. 
Three words still have the ending -en : oxen, children, breth- 
ren. There are only a few with vowel change : foot, feet ; 
man, men ; goose, geese ; louse, lice ; mouse, mice ; tooth, teeth. 

17. It will be helpful now to give some suggestions in 
regard to when one should add -s and when -es. 

(1) Words ending in s, x, z, ch, and sh (letters that will 
not unite with the sound of s) add -es ; as, glasses, boxes, 
topazes, churches, fishes. 

(2) A few words ending in / change this to v and add 
-es to form the plural ; some of them are beef, calf leaf, 
loaf, self wife, wolf. Notice, however, that brief, chief, 
dwarf, fife, hoof, proof, reef, roof, strife, and turf add -s. 



NOUNS 29 

Wharf usually has -ves in the plural ; scarf usually adds 
-s ; staff has the plural staves unless a body of men is 
meant, when the form staffs is used ; as, staffs of com- 
manders or of newspapers. 

(3) Words ending in -y preceded by a consonant sound, 
change the y to i and add -es ; as, ladies, soliloquies. In 
such words as soliloquy and colloquy the u has the sound 
of the consonant w. 

Note. — If the final y is preceded by a vowel, the regular ending s 
is used ; as turkeys, boys, Fridays. 

(4) Words of foreign derivation ending in -o may add 
-s or -es. The words alto, cameo, canto, folio, oratorio, 
piano, solo, and zero add -s ; but cargo, echo, embargo, 
hero, motto, negro, potato, and volcano add -es. 

The endings must be learned by close observation. 

Special Remarks on Number Forms 

18. Material and abstract nouns have no plural; but 
when such nouns take the plural inflection they assume a 
different meaning and become common class nouns ; as, 
glass, glasses ; iron, irons ; sorrow, sorrows. 

19. Certain nouns have only a plural form. Of the fol- 
lowing list very few ever have a singular form : — 

aborigines bellows 

amends billiards 

annals dregs 

antipodes gallows 

assets tongs 

The singular form asset is sometimes seen ; as, " He 
used every available asset." The singular form premise is 



matins 


scissors 


nuptials 


thanks 


oats 


spectacles 


obsequies 


vespers 


premises 


victuals 



30 PARTS OF SPEECH 

a term used in logic; the word premises usually means the 
surroundings or grounds about a building. The word 
spectacle, meaning scene, is not the singular of the word 
spectacles, meaning eye-glasses. 

Exercise. — Write sentences using each word in the list on p. 29 as a 
subject. 

20. Some words have the same form for singular and 
plural ; as, deer, sheep, sivine ; trout, salmon, shad ; cannon, 
heathen, yoke (of oxen), head (of cattle), sail (a vessel), 
Chinese. 

Such nouns as pair, score, dozen, hundred, have usually 
the same form for the plural if they follow numerals; but 
if not limited by numerals or if used after certain preposi- 
tions, they take -s for the plural ; as, " five thousand of the 
citizens" or " people by the thousands." 

21. Many words having a plural form are used as sin- 
gular ; such as optics, physics, mathematics, and names of 
other sciences ; pains (care), news, molasses, summons. 
The words means and politics may be treated as singular 
or plural in meaning: we may say, "a means of success/' 
or " success by these means " ; "politics is his favorite 
study," or "politics are very annoying to him." 

22. A few singular words have two plurals with different 
meanings; as: — 

brothers (of a family), brethren (of a society or church) 
cloths (kinds or pieces), clothes (garments) 
dies (stamps for coins, etc.), dice (for gaming) 
fishes (individuals or kinds), fish (collectively) 
geniuses (persons of genius), genii (fabled spirits) 
indexes (to books), indices (signs in algebra) 



NOUNS 31 

peas (separately), pease (collectively) 

pennies (separate coins), pence (collective value) 

shots (times fired), shot (collective balls) 

The word pence may add -s in speaking of coins, thus 
making a double plural ; as, " a few sixpences." 
Exercise. — Make sentences using all these words. 

23. The plural form of compound words depends upon 
the relation of their parts. 

Some are closely united, so that we think of the parts 
as forming one unit : the last part adds -s ; as : — 

attorney-general steamboat handful 

housewife forget-me-not maidservant 

typewriter kingfisher spoonful 

fellow-servant goosequill stepson 

In most compound words which have the parts loosely 
joined by hyphens or even standing apart, and in which 
one member is described by another word or phrase, the 
chief member adds -s ; as in the words : — 

aid-de-camp commander-in-chief knight-errant 

billet-doux court-martial father-in-law 

attorney-at-law cousin-german hanger-on 

We rriay also write attorneys-general and knight-errants. 

A few compound words make both parts plural ; as, 
menservants, women lawyers, knights templars. 

Not all words ending in -man are compounds of the 
English word man ; consequently some do not change the 
ending to men, but add -s. Examples are : Brahman, fir- 
man, German, Mussulman, Norman, Ottoman, etc. 

Exercise. — Write sentences using the singular and plural of each 
noun in this Section. 

Consult Webster's International Dictionary for all compound words. 



32 PARTS OF SPEECH 

24. In forming the plural of proper names with titles, 

as Mr. Brown, Miss Hill, Mrs. Adams, Dr. Williamson, 
there are two methods authorized by good usage. We 
may pluralize the name, and say, " the two Mr. Browns, 
or Miss Hills, or Mrs. Adamses, or Dr. Williamsons" ; 
or we may pluralize the title, and say, "the two Messrs. 
Broivn, or Misses Hill, or Me s dames Adams, or Drs. 
Williamson." 

25. In making the plural of letters, figures, signs, and 
words used merely as words, there is likewise a choice of 
two methods. Some writers add the apostrophe and s ('s), 
some add only s; for example, "tall k's," "crooked ?s," 
" + } s like x 's" " too many and's " ; or, " tall ks" " crooked 
Js," " + s like x s," " too many ands." 

26. Foreign words are of two classes, and the pluraliz- 
ing depends upon the nature of each word : — 

(i) Those retaining a foreign plural only; for example, 
" a strange phenomenon, strange phenomena " ; " the analy- 
sis of a sentence, the analyses were not well written by 
the class/' 

(2) Those having an English form of plural as well as 
their original form. Examples (in the plural) are : — 

bandits or banditti formulas or formulae 

beaus or beaux memorandums or memoranda 

cherubs or cherubim stratums or strata 

Exercise 

Look up the plurals of the following foreign words, and use them in 
sentences : 

museum, oasis, cactus, automaton, chauffeur. 



NOUNS 



33 



life 
reef 



Exercise 
(a) Write sentences containing the plural of the following words : — 
valley half strife soliloquy monkey dwarf 



sheaf 



ally 



strife 
roof 



wharf 



story 



attorney 



(b) Write sentences containing the plural of the following words : — 



brother knight-templar Brahman 

cameo domino genius 

goosequill oratorio cloth 

volcano talisman formula 

father-in-law piano bandit 

Mrs. Young attorney-at-law Mr. Allen 

Note. — Make good use of the dictionary here. 



antithesis 

negro 

spoonful 

Mussulman 

potato 

hero 



CASE 

27. Examine the following sentences : — 

1. My father was amongst the mighty crowd. 

2. He drew his cloak around him. 

3. Night's silvery veil hung low. 

In (1), the word father is the subject of the verb; in 
(2), the word cloak is the object of drew ; in (3), the word 
Nights expresses ownership or possession; in (1), again, 
crowd 'is the object of the preposition amongst. 

These four nouns have certain relations to other words 
in the sentence, and the manner of showing this relation 
is called case. Thus, father is in the case of subject, 
cloak in the case of object, etc. 

28. Case is the form or use of a noun or pronoun to 
express its relation to other words in the sentence. 

The nominative case usually expresses the relation of 
subject; the objective case expresses the relation of the 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — 3 



34 PARTS OF SPEECH 

object; and the possessive case expresses the relation of 
possession, source, ownership, etc. 

I. Uses of the Nominative Case 

29. The most common use that the nominative case 
has is as subject. Other uses, however, are shown 
below : — 

(i) Subject; as, "' Fly pride,' says the peacock." 

(2) Predicate nominative, or complement of an intransi- 
tive verb ; as, " This is my own, my native land." 

(3) In apposition with another nominative word; as, 
"Rich gift of God, A year of time ! " 

(4) Independent or absolute uses, in which the noun is 
considered to be in the nominative case, but has no real 
office in the sentence. There are three of these uses : — 

(a) Direct address ; as, " O Death, where is thy sting ? " 
{V) Exclamation ; as, " The Old Manse ! — we had almost 
forgotten it." Direct address is often put in the form of 
an exclamation ; but direct address concerns a person or 
thing spoken to, while this exclamation concerns a person 
or thing spoken of. 

(c) With a participle (a verbal form in -ing or -ed that 
does not assert), in a phrase independent of the rest of the 
sentence; as, "But the rain coming on, or the east wind 
blowing, or some other reason arising, his honor turns his 
horses' heads down St. James's Street." 

Exercise 1 

Mention the nouns in the nominative case in these sentences, and 
tell what use each has : — 

1. The forecastle was a roomy place. 

2. Captain, will you give me the key? 



NOUNS 35 

3. There came a clash of steel upon the deck. 

4. Night coming on, we made fast to a tree. 

5. Adams, the skipper, had gone overboard. 

6. Sitting in front of the fire was a tallish gentleman in a great coat, 
the only other occupant of the room. 

7. It was a rather cool evening for the season of the year, and the 
gentleman drew his chair aside. 

8. " My good fellow, 11 said Mr. Winkle, his teeth chattering all the 
time he spoke, " I respect your attachment to my excellent friend. " 

Exercise 2 

Illustrate nominative uses 1, 2, 3, and 4 (a) by five sentences for 
each use. 

II. Uses of the Objective Case 

30. The objective case has the following uses : — 

(1) Direct object of a verb ; as, " Behold the man." 

(2) Object of a preposition ; as, " I stood on the bridge 
at midnight." 

(3) Indirect object, naming the person or thing to or for 
whom something is done : it always precedes a direct 
object; as, " Hast thou given the horse strength ? " 

(4) Predicate objective, or complement of a transitive 
verb ; as, " The Spaniards made themselves masters of the 
Empire/' 

(5) Adverbial objective, a noun used without a preposi- 
tion to express time, distance, measure, value, etc. ; as, 
"The next night it came again ; " "but a few steps 
farther on ; " " a mile wide ; " " worth a dollar ; " "years 
after," etc. 

(6) In apposition with another objective word; as, 
" Hardly a moment between the two lights, the day and 
the lamplight." 



36 PARTS OF SPEECH 

Exercise 

(a) In the following sentences, mention the nouns in the objective 
case, and tell what use each has : — 

i. Before I reached the ground the rain poured. 

2. My uncle gave a broken cry and fell to the floor. 

3. We gave the boy the remains of breakfast. 

4. The man was drowned two weeks later. 

5. Some people make money their idol. 

6. Call Bates, the young fellow by the ladder. 

7. They made themselves servants of the king of Spain. 

8. The first thing I did was to draw a half circle, ten yards wide, 
round in front of the hollow place in the rock. Into this space I car- 
ried all my goods. 

9. But the law gives a man no power over the life of a slave. 

10. Yet this was the last night for the gay Pompeii! the fabled city 
of Hercules! the delight of the voluptuous Roman! 

(b) Write twenty sentences illustrating all of the uses of the objec- 
tive case. 

III. Use of the Possessive Case 

31. The term possessive is given because ownership or 
some other close relation is usually implied : " The gentle- 
man s mode of speaking " means the mode characteristic 
of the gentleman ; " Our fathers' God " means the God 
whom our fathers worshiped ; ".A sale of ladies' shoes " 
means a sale of shoes suitable for ladies to wear. 

32. A possessive noun is generally equivalent to the 
preposition of and its object; for example, in Section 31, 
" the gentleman's" is equivalent to of the gentleman ; "our 
fathers'" to of our fathers ; but "ladies' shoes/' as shown 
above, has a slightly different equivalent phrase. 

On this account the prepositional phrase is often used 
instead of the possessive case, and especially if the posses- 
sive form is less smooth in sound. 



NOUNS 37 

33. Often we meet with a peculiar form called a double 
possessive, in which the preposition of is followed by the 
possessive case ; for example, " He was brought to my 
house as a countryman of my father's." 

This is called an idiom; that is, a correct expression 
not falling under the usual rules of grammar. 

Sometimes the ordinary possessive or phrase does not 
make the meaning as clear as the double possessive. For 
instance, "The newspaper speaks of my sister s portrait" 
may mean a likeness of my sister executed by some one 
else, or a portrait painted by my sister to represent some 
other person. But "this portrait of my sisters" clearly 
means the portrait that my sister possesses. The double 
possessive is often used for convenience even when it is 
not necessary for clearness. 

34. The noun modified by the possessive is sometimes 
omitted, such a word as house, store, etc., being under- 
stood; as, "A visit to my uncle's ; " "the silks at Macy's." 

The omission is noticed especially in case of well-known 
public places ; as, " A dinner at Delmonico's " (restaurant) ; 
"the greatness of St. Paul's or St. Peter's" (church); 
"the season at McVicker's" (theater); "his career at 
St. James's" (court). 

35. The apostrophe (') is called the possessive sign, and 
the pupil will need to exercise care in the use of it. The 
following directions will be found helpful : — 

Singular nouns add -s to form the possessive case ; as, 
boy's, neighbor s, committee's, America's. 

Plural nouns not ending in -s also add -'s to form the 
possessive ; thus, children's, deer's, men-of-war's. 



33 



PARTS OF SPEECH 



Plural nouns ending in -s add the apostrophe only; 
as, attorneys', friends', committees', neighbors'. 

36. Some few expressions have only the apostrophe in 
the singular ; especially the phrases, " for appearance' 
sake," " for convenience' sake," " for conscience' sake," " for 
Jesus' sake." But the usual custom is to add -s even if the 
singular noun ends in an s sound ; for example, " St. 
James's Square ; " " the princess' s bicycle ; " " for her mis- 
tress's comfort ; " " Erasmus's dialogue ; " " Pythagoras' s 
first rule." 

37. Compound words form the possessive case singular 
and plural by the same rules as simple words ; thus, " the 
aid-de-camp 's orders ; " " my fellow-pupil's troubles ; " " the 
women-servants' wages ; " " the men-of-war's gallant crews." 

38. The declension of a noun is the orderly arrangement 
of the forms for number and case. 

The following nouns are declined in full : — 





SINGULAR 


PLURAL 


Nom. and Obj. 


fairy 




fairies 


Possessive 


fairy's 




fairies' 


Nom. and Obj. 


wife 




wives 


Possessive 


wife's 




wives' 


Nom. and Obj. 


negro 




negroes 


Possessive 


negro's 




negroes' 


Nom. and Obj. 


father-in 


-law 


fathers-in-law 


Possessive 


father-in 


-law's 


fathers-in-law's 




Exercises 





(a) Write sentences using the possessive singular and plural of the 
following words : — 

Ox, Mussulman, postmaster-general, mulatto, thief, enemy, attorney, 



NOUNS 39 

sheep, Mrs. Jackson, brother-in-law, dwarf, Miss Hall, hero, bandit, 
Englishman, fellow-pupil, gentleman. 

(J?) Use the possessive equivalent of each of the following phrases : — 

i . Shoes for men and boys. 

2. Hats for ladies and misses. 

3. The pianos of Knabe and Steinway. 

4. The machines of Wilcox and Gibbs. 

5. The marbles of Albert and Henry (together). 

6. The marbles of Albert and Henry (separately). 

7. Dresses for girls and women. 

8. The boat belonging to Wilson and Baker. 

9. The tennis court of the Reds and the Blues. 
10. Books of the Putnams and the Scribners. 

PERSON 

39. Person is the form or use of a noun or pronoun to 
indicate the person speaking, the person or thing spoken 
to, or the person or thing spoken of. 

The word representing the speaker is said to be of the 
first person ; one representing the person or thing spoken 
to is of the second person ; and one representing the person 
or thing spoken of is of the third person. 

In the study of pronouns person is more important, be- 
cause the personal pronouns have separate forms for the 
three persons ; in nouns person depends upon the use of 
the words. 

40. Nouns are most often of the third person, since they 
name the person or thing spoken of. 

A noun is said to be of the first person when it stands 
in apposition with a pronoun which represents the speaker; 
as, " I, a household pet, naturally fell into her hands ; " 
" We, the children, were all touched with pensiveness." 



40 PARTS OF SPEECH 

A common use is in proclamations ; as, " I, Thomas Jeffer- 
son, President of the United States of America, do hereby," 
etc. 

Nouns denoting the person or thing addressed are of the 
second person; as, "Ye crags and peaks" 

PARSING OF NOUNS 

41. Parsing is the statement of all the facts about the 
form of a word and its relation to other words in the 
sentence. 

We have studied the classes of nouns, and learned to 
recognize the gender, number, person, and case ; now in 
parsing we shall take each word presented and give the 
facts about it separately. 

In the work of parsing, the natural, sensible order is to 
tell what a word denotes or what it does, and then to tell 
what it is. 

Parsing deals with the regular facts and laws of the lan- 
guage ; and the pupil should take notice at the start that 
in parsing we must make allowance for idioms, which may 
defy all rules and make their own laws. 

42. To parse a noun, one should state : — 

(i) Its class (and sub-class, if a common noun). 

(2) Its gender. 

(3) Its number, 

(4) Its person. 

(5) Its case. 

The parsing of one noun will suggest the method to be 
followed : — 

Is yon mute thing carved by man's art a goddess ? 



NOUNS 41 

Thing is a name, therefore a noun ; the name of any ob- 
ject of its class, therefore a common class noun ; it names 
an object without life, hence is neuter gender; names one 
object, therefore singular number ; names an object spoken 
of, and is third person; subject of is, hence nominative case. 

Follow this order with mans, art, and goddess. 

SYNTAX OF NOUNS 

43. Syntax is that department of English grammar 
which deals with the relations of words, and with their 
right use in sentences. 

Nouns have no distinct forms for the nominative and 
objective cases ; hence no mistake can be made in using 
them in these cases. But some remarks are required con- 
cerning the use of the possessive case. 

44. Two words in apposition are usually treated as one 
compound noun, the possessive sign being added to the 
last one only; as, "The recital of Hodge the farmers 
woes ; " "the length of Victoria queen of England's reign. " 

Often, however, it is found to be clearer as well as 
smoother in sound to use the prepositional phrase instead 
of a compound noun or a pair of appositional words ; as, 
" The woes of Hodge the farmer ; " " the reign of Victoria 
queen of England ; " " the gallant crews of the men-of-war" 

45. If two nouns modify the same word and denote joint 
origin, ownership, etc., the apostrophe is added to the second 
modifier only; as, " Mason and Dixon '.rime;" "Wheeler and 
Wilson's machines. " Examples are to be seen every day 

in newspaper advertisements and business announcements. 
If one of two possessive nouns has its modified word 



42 PARTS OF SPEE.CH 

omitted and the other has its modified word expressed, 
separate ownership, etc., being implied, the apostrophe is 
used with both modifiers ; as, " Huylers and Gunther's 
candies ; " " Byron's and Shelley's poetry/' 

Sentences for General Exercise l 

1. I studied medicine two years. 

2. The chains that held my left leg were about two yards long. 

3. The emperor descended from the tower. 

4. My good master, Mr. Bates, recommended me. 

5. At the place where the carriage stopped, there once stood an an- 
cient temple. 

6. The last of these voyages not proving very fortunate, I grew 
weary of the sea. 

7. Perseus leaped from behind a clump of bushes, and made him- 
self master of the prize. 

8. We write these words now, many miles distant from the spot at 
which, year after year, we met on that day, a merry and joyous circle. 

9. Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions 
of youth ! 

10. "Mercy on us, sisters! what is the young man talking about?" 
exclaimed Scarecrow. 

1 1 . The instant before the helmet was put on, there stood Perseus, 
a beautiful young man with rosy cheeks. 

12. The bride's father, our good friend here, is a noble person, and 
I am proud to know him. 

13. "I have called from Dodson and Fogg's,"' said Mr. Jackson. 

14. If one could live a thousand years, he might have time to grow 
rich. 

15. He was a complete family chronicle, which made him a great 
favorite with the old folks. 

16. The stranger's countenance still wore a smile, which gleamed 
on little Marygold's image. 

1 [Note to Teacher. — Lists of sentences so marked throughout the book 
may be used for parsing or to supplement the exercises on classification, 
inflection, etc.] 



NOUNS 43 

1 7 . Ere long he reached the magnificent glacier of the Rhone ; a frozen 
cataract more than two thousand feet in height, and many miles broad. 
1 8. Maiden, that read'st this simple rhyme, 
Enjoy thy youth, it will not stay. 



CAPITALS AND PUNCTUATION 

46. Every word and expression used as a proper name 

begins with a capital letter. 

They include such words as the following : — 

(i) Names of persons, places, etc. ; as, Garibaldi, New 

York, the City of Rocks, Buckeye State, Orpliajis' Home. 

(2) Words, either nouns or adjectives, derived from 
proper nouns; as, American, Parisian, Shakespearean. 

(3) Names of months, days of the week, special days 
appointed as holidays or for religious observance, etc. ; 
but not the names of the seasons. Examples are : Sep- 
tember, Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Easter, Fourth of July. 

(4) Names of religious bodies and political parties ; as, 
Mohammedan, Presbyterian, Tory, Democrat. 

(5) Names for the Deity ; as, Jehovah, the Infinite. 

(6) Names of things personified ; as, " When Music, 
heavenly maid, was young ; " " Now came still Evening 
on ; " " But Error, wounded, writhes with pain." 

(7) In titles of books, newspapers, essays, etc., not 
only the nouns have capitals, but all the principal words; 
as, An Introduction to Chemical Science ; The Scientific 
American; The Nineteenth Century ; A Treatise on the 
Freedom of the Press. 

(8) Such words as Street, River, Mountain} etc., if they 

1 Many good authorities use the small letter instead of the capital in the 
first three examples under (8). 



44 PARTS OF SPEECH 

are used in connection with proper names; the words 
of direction, Noi'th, East, etc., if they are used as nouns 
to name sections of country ; and all titles used as part of 
proper names. Examples are : " This is Fleet Street, or 
Euclid Avenue ; Roane Mountain; the prairies of the 
West; the Duke of Wellington; Colonel Bonaparte'' 

Exercise 

Copy these sentences and use capitals wherever they are needed, 
giving reasons : — 

i . Now came still evening on, and twilight gray 
Had in her sober livery all things clad. 
2. One of dickens's stories was published in the paper called "all 
the year round.'" 

3. Honor the light brigade, 
Noble six hundred ! 

4. He was a believer in the church of Rome. 

5. Master simon gave them a Christmas song. 

6. These wise men came from the east. 

7. But, Mr. speaker, the gentleman says we have a right to tax 
am erica ! 

8. Ben Jonson lived in queen elizabeth's reign. 

9. I think uncle Henry lives on Broad street. 

10. This essay, called "the rights of man," caused discussion 
throughout the united states of am erica. 

47. The apostrophe has the following uses : — 

(1) To mark the possessive case; as, the World's Fair. 

(2) To mark the plural of letters, figures, etc. ; as, x's, 
8's, oh's. 

(3) To show that letters- are omitted from words; as, 
" 'Tis (it is) distance lends enchantment ;" " They' "11 (they 
will) bare their snowy scalps ; " " We've (we have) been 
long together." 



NOUNS 45 

48. Some uses of the comma should be noticed here in 
connection with the study of nouns : — 

(i) Nouns independent by direct address, unless 
exclamatory, are set off from the rest of the sentence 
by the comma ; as, " King Agrippa, believest thou the 
prophets ? " 

(2) Nouns in apposition are separated by the comma, 
unless they are used as parts of one name ; for example, 
" O gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse" 

(3) Nouns used as nominative absolute with a parti- 
ciple are set off by the comma ; as, " His father yielding 
to old age, the prince ascended the throne.' ' 

Exercise 

Copy these sentences, insert apostrophes and commas where needed, 
and give reasons : — 

1. O sir Im sorry to give you a pain! 

2. Twas the fishers wife at her neighbors door. 

3. The moon a phantom vessel sails 
Past reefs of cloud in rugged lines. 
4. The road passing straight through a waste moor the towers of a 
distant city appear. 

5 . I wouldnt hurt you for a farm 
My pretty little neighbor ! 

6. He had under him in one of his dominions a briber a gift-taker 
a gratifier of rich men. 

7. The end being given the means could not well be mistaken. 

8. Anne the mother of Francis Bacon was distinguished both as a 
linguist and as a theologian. 

9. He came clattering up to the school door with an invitation to 
Ichabod to attend a merry-making or u quilting-frolic " to be held that 
evening at Mynheer Van Tassels. 

10. "Well my dear,' 1 said her father with a quiet laugh, "I didnt 
say you dont manage for everybodys good. 11 



PRONOUNS 

49. We have learned that the office of the pronoun is 
to stand for a name, or for a noun. It may have other 
uses in the sentence, but must have this quality of stand- 
ing for a noun or its equivalent. 

CLASSES OF PRONOUNS 

50. The various classes of pronouns may be found by a 
study of the following sentences : — 

As soon as the captain came, he rallied his men around him. 

In this sentence, the words he, his, and him evidently 
stand for captain, and denote a person spoken of. They 
are called personal pronouns. Other personal pronouns, as 
7, we, me, etc., denote the person speaking ; and yet 
others, as you, thou, thee, etc., denote the person or thing 
spoken to, 

A personal pronoun is one that shows by its form 
whether it represents the person speaking, the person or 
thing spoken to, or the person or thing spoken of. 

Exercise. — Write sentences using five of the personal pronouns 
mentioned above. 

51. The person who effected so much by his eloquence was called 
Peter the Hermit. 

In this sentence, two statements are put together. 
The main statement is, "The person was called Peter the 
Hermit ; " and in this the word person is modified by the 

4 6 



PRONOUNS 47 

expression, "who effected so much by his eloquence." 
The expression, " who effected so much by his elo- 
quence," is equivalent to "and he effected," etc.; and 
being a conjunction connecting the two members of the 
sentence, and he referring to person in the main division. 

A division of a sentence containing a subject and its 
predicate is called a clause. 

Two clauses have now been shown in this sentence. 
The word who, being equivalent to and he, connects 
clauses, and also refers to a noun in the sentence. 

A word that stands for some noun or equivalent of a 
noun in the sentence and also connects clauses is called 
a relative pronoun. 

52. What was the Priory like? 

Here the word what does not stand for any word in the 
sentence, but is used to ask a question. The answer 
might be, "It was like a church," or "It was like an inn;" 
and the word church or the word inn would take the place 
of what in the sentence. Hence, what stands for a word 
or a group of words, and is a pronoun. 

A pronoun that is used to ask a question is called an 
interrogative pronoun. 

53. i. These too belonged to the past. 

2. I had no advantage over others of my age. 

3. All was now placed beyond a doubt. 

The words these in (1), others in (2), and all in (3), are 
terms that might modify nouns ; as in the sentences, 
" These customs are strange ; " "I saw other persons ; " 
"All doubt disappeared." But in sentences (1), (2), and 
(3), the words do not modify, but stand for nouns; in (1), 



4 8 



PARTS OF SPEECH 



these means the things previously mentioned ; in (2), others 
contains the idea of persons ; and so on. 

A word primarily an adjective, but used to stand for a 
noun, is called an adjective pronoun. 

Exercise. — Write five sentences using as adjective pronouns the 
words some, several, all, any, everything. 

To sum up, the four classes of pronouns are Personal, 
Interrogative, Relative, and Adjective. 

PERSONAL PRONOUNS 
54. The declension of personal pronouns is as follows : — 



FIRST PERSON 


SECONI 


) PERSON 


THIRD PERSON 






Old 


Common 










Singular 


Form 


Form 


Masc. 


Fern. 


Neut. 


Nom. 


I 


thou 


you 


he 


she 


it 


Poss. 


mine, 


thine, 


your, 


his 


her, 


its 




my 


thy 


yours 




hers 




Obj. 


me 


thee 


you 


him 


her 


it 




Plural 




Plural 


Plural of all three 


Nom. 


we 


ye 


you 




they 




Poss. 


our, 


your, 


your, 




their, 






ours 


yours 


yours 




theirs 





Obj. 



us 



you 



you 



them 



55. The pronouns of the first and the second person do 
not, by their form, indicate gender. They do not always 
refer to words in the sentence, but may stand for the names 
of persons speaking, or persons or things spoken to ; and 



PRONOUNS 49 

since they are used in direct speech, the gender need not 
be expressed by the form of the pronoun. 

If, however, the context has a word to accompany the 
pronoun, the gender of the latter is clear ; for example : — 

i . w / like the old custom," said the Squire. 

2. Niece, I hope I see you well in health. 

3. Thou hast done well, good fellow. 

56. The singular pronouns of the third person, on the 
other hand, show by the form whether the object spoken 
of is a male or a female being, an inanimate object, or a 
living being whose sex is not important. 

So exact are these forms in indicating gender that they 
are used to show whether certain nouns are regarded as 
masculine or feminine — for example, friend, acquaintance, 
cousin, etc. ; as in the sentences : — 

1. My cojnpanion looked around him with transport. 

2. The invalid retired with her maid to her bedroom. 

They also accompany names of things personified, as 
shown in the following expressions : — 

1. Night, sable goddess, from her ebon throne. 

2. As if Death were raging, . . . seeking for his prey. 

Exercise. — Write sentences using five nouns from Section 12 with 
masculine pronouns, then with feminine, as illustrated above. 

57. There is no pronoun, however, of the third person 
singular to stand for terms that include both masculine and 
feminine. The first examples in Section 56 are used ex- 
pressly to show that a male or a female person is spoken 
of ; but when certain nouns or other words imply that both 
male and female persons are meant, the pronouns are de 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — 4 



50 PARTS OF SPEECH 

f ective. For instance, what shall we use to fill this blank : 

" Every friend of mine has own plans " ? 

The preferred way is to let the masculine pronoun stand 
for both masculine and feminine names; as, "his own 
plans," in the sentence just quoted. Other examples 
are : — 

i . Who can tell, when he sets forth to wander, whither he may be 
driven ? 

2. Every one had his tale of shipwreck and disaster. 

3. Any man or woman with a pennyworth of brains . . . must have 
gone off into a digression of his own. 

Sometimes writers use both a masculine and a feminine 
pronoun in such a case ; as : — 

No male or fe?nale remembers his or her first inclination any more 
than his or her own christening. 

But there is no such difficulty when several objects or 
persons are represented by a plural pronoun. The forms 
they, their, them, are the only plurals for all genders : — 

1. (Persons) The villagers doffed their hats to the Squire. 

2. (Things) The sounds, as they receded, became more soft. 

3. (Persons and things) What has become of the charms of music, 
by which men and beasts, fishes, fowls, and serpents were so frequently 
enchanted, and their very natures changed ? 

58. Occasionally the plural forms we, our, etc., are used 
to represent only one person, especially a ruler ; thus : — 

We have summoned to our presence a Jewish maiden. 

They are also often used by authors and editors, who 
are speaking with the purpose of making their words 
prominent but themselves less prominent ; for example : — 



PRONOUNS SI 

We shall be pardoned, we hope, if we call the attention of our read- 
ers to the causes and to the consequences of that great event. 

59. A form originally plural is used as a singular pro- 
noun of the second person. We no longer say thou, thee, 
etc., in ordinary speech, but you, your. These forms are 
used in speaking to one person or more than one, always 
taking a plural verb, however, whether one or more are ad- 
dressed. It is not correct to say, " You was a good 
friend," or the like. 

The forms thou, thine or thy, thee, and ye, are often 
called the solemn forms, since they are used in the Bible, 
also in prayers and other kinds of worship ; no quotations 
are needed to illustrate this familiar usage. 

They may be called the poetic forms also, since they 
occur frequently in poetry and elevated prose style; 
as : — 

i. There was a hoy, ye know him well, ye cliffs. 

2. I fear thee and thy glittering eye. 

3. Bishop of Beauvais! thy victim died upon a scaffold, — thou upon 
a down bed. 

60. The word it has several distinct uses : — 

(1) The regular use as a pronoun, to refer to some word 
or expression in the same sentence or a sentence close by. 
This reference may be backward to a preceding word ; 
as : — 

1. The cheerful fire glanced its rays through the lattice. 

2. Indeed, he was the idot of the younger part of the company. . . . 
I could not wonder at it. 

In the first sentence, it stands for the noun fire ; in the 
second, it stands for the whole statement preceding. 



52 PARTS OF SPEECH 

The reference may be forward to some noun or its 
equivalent in the sentence or a sentence close by ; as : — 

1. None but those who have experienced it can form an idea of the 
delicious throng of sensations. 

2. Shorn as it is of its ancient and festive honors, Christmas is still 
a period of delightful excitement. 

61. Beside the regular use just given, there are some 
that are strikingly idiomatic, quite unlike the reference to 
particular expressions. These uses are : — 

(2) It introductory : here it does not really stand for a 
noun and take the exact place of it in a sentence, but 
occupies a place as subject, while the real or logical sub- 
ject is a word, phrase, or clause following the predicate. 
Though it is singular, the real subject may be a plural 
word ; as : — 

1 . It was a fine, sunny morning, 

2. " // was the English? Kaspar cried, 
"Who put the French to rout.'" 

3. It is impossible to resist the gladdening influence of fine weather 
and fair wind. 

4. It is a beautiful arrangement that this festival has been made the 
season for the gathering together of family connections. 

(3) Impersonal subject; as in the following common 
expressions : — 

It is raining. It turned cold. 77 thundered and lightened. 77 was 
very late, etc. 

Here the verb has no other subject than it, which is a 
meaningless word in this use, the real idea being in the 
verb which follows, or in such a word as rain y zveather, 
air y time, etc., in the mind of the speaker. 

(4) Impersonal object ; merely completing the assertion 



PRONOUNS S3 

of the verb, but having no meaning of its own ; for 
example : — 

1. How she (the ship) seems to lord it over the deep ! 

2. She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies. 

62. The name for which the pronoun stands is called 
its antecedent, from a Latin word that means going before. 
The antecedent, as the term implies, usually comes before 
the pronoun, as shown in the sentences under Sections 
56, 57, etc. 

Exercise 

(a) Tell what is the antecedent of each personal pronoun of the 
third person in these sentences : — 

1. The little girl had an old grandmother who loved her so well 
that she could not do too much for her. 

2. My brother did not share my inexpressible delight; his taste 
ran in a different channel. 

3. "Alas," answered the girl, "the king has told me that I must 
spin this straw into gold or lose my life.'" 

4. Cicero tells us that he never liked an orator who did not appear 
in some little confusion at the beginning of his speech. 

5. To teach is to learn; according to an old experience, it is the 
very best mode of learning. 

6. Every one ought to reflect how much more unhappy he might 
be than he really is. 

(J?) In the following sentences, tell which use the pronoun it has in 
each instance : — 

1 . It was a very good time for talking. 

2. It has been my lot to have my roving passion gratified. 

3. I might fill a volume with the reveries of a sea voyage — for 
with me it is almost a continual reverie — but it is time to get to shore. 

4. Certain it is, the place still continues under a spell. 

5. He lorded it over his little empire, the school. 

6. When I awoke, it rained. 



54 PARTS OF SPEECH 

Nominative Case of Personal Pronouns 

63. The nominative forms of these pronouns have, like 
nouns, the following uses : — 

(i) Subject of a verb ; as, " Thither we went." 

(2) Predicate nominative, or complement of an intransi- 
tive verb ; as, " You are he who decided the victory." 

(3) In apposition with a nominative word; as, "There is 
the hero, he who saved our lives." 

(4) Direct address {thou, ye, and you), either alone, as 
in this expression, " O ye, whom wrath consumes ! " or, 
much oftener, an adjunct of a noun addressed ; as, " Thou 
Wind, that ravest without." 

(5) In an absolute phrase, usually with a participle; as, 
" I was obliged to part from my friends, they having been 
called away by a message." 

Exercise. — Write ten sentences illustrating all the above uses. 

Objective Case of Personal Pronouns 

64. The objective forms of the personal pronouns have 
mainly the same uses as objective nouns : — 

(1) Direct object of a verb ; as, " Touch us gently, Time ! " 

(2) Object of a preposition ; as, " For I will fly to thee." 

(3) Indirect object of a verb, as, " Sing me the song." 

(4) In exclamations the objective form me is often used ; 
as, " Ah, me ! what rumor do I hear ? " 

Exercise. — Write fifteen sentences illustrating uses (1), (2), and 
(3) above, five for each use. 

Possessive Case of Personal Pronouns 

65. The possessive forms my, our, thy, your, her, its, 
their, stand before nouns and modify like adjectives. 



PRONOUNS 55 

Besides these there are the possessive forms mine, curs, 
thine, yours, hers, and theirs, which imply possession but are 
seldom used to stand before a noun. The word his may 
stand before a noun or be used without a noun following. 

This use of possessive forms, modifying but not standing 
before the modified noun, is called absolute, which means 
cut loose from the modified word ; and the pronouns so 
used are called absolute personal pronouns. 

They are not a separate class, but a special use of the 
personal pronouns. Examples of their use are : — 

i. Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands. 
2. Some provinces have tried the experiment, as we have tried ours ; 
and theirs has succeeded. 

Compound Personal (or Reflexive) Pronouns 
A pronoun is used reflexively when it is the direct or 
indirect object of a verb, and also refers to the same per- 
son or thing as the subject of that verb. 

Certain words are classed separately as reflexive pro- 
nouns. They are more properly called compound personal 
pronouns, as they are not always reflexive. They consist 
usually of the possessive form of the personal pronoun 
united with the word self, selves ; as, myself, yourselves. 
The following is a list of these compounds : — 

FIRST PERSON SECOND PERSON THIRD PERSON 

Old Common 

Form Form Masc. Fern. Neut. 

Sing, myself thyself yourself himself herself itself 
Plur. ourselves yourselves themselves 

All these are in the nominative or the objective case. 

Exercise. — Select five of these pronouns and use them in sentences, 
first as nominative, then as objective case. 



t 



56 PARTS OF SPEECH 

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS 

66. The office of an interrogative pronoun is to ask a 
question and stand for the noun or equivalent of a noun 
that would answer the question. 

The interrogative pronouns are who, which, and what. 

67. Sentences are most often put into the form of a 
statement; as, " A burnt child fears the fire." 

Notice that the words of this sentence are placed in the 
following order : (i) Subject (a burnt child)', (2) Predicate 
(fears)\ (3) Object (the fire). This is known as the regu- 
lar or normal order of words in a sentence. 

68. Sentences may also be put into the form of a ques- 
tion ; as, " Who calls me at the dead of night ? " 

This sentence has the regular or normal order, just like 
that of the statement quoted above ; but in many questions 
the subject does not come first ; for example : — 

A 

1 . What sort of a house is Woodstock? 

2. Who and what could it be? 

3. What was the Cyclops doing here? 

The real relations of the words may best be seen if they 
are arranged in the regular order : — 

B 

1. Woodstock is what sort of a house? 

2. It could be who and what? 

3. The Cyclops was doing what here? 

In group A, the first word in each sentence asks the 
question ; but we see from group B that the subjects are 
Woodstock, it, and the Cyclops. 



PRONOUNS 57 

Sentences that ask direct questions are called inter- 
rogative sentences. 

Exercise 

Rearrange the words of these sentences if necessary, then tell the 
office of each italicized word : — 

i . And by what appeal hereafter shall we attempt to rouse up native 
valor ? 

2. Who can estimate the power of gentle influences ? 

3. What could the little bird mean by pouring forth such a song at 
midnight? 

4. Which way should the unhappy victim turn? 

5. Whom had he gained by this contempt? 

6. For what had we come up to London? 

7. Which would my uncle the captain prefer? 

8. Who is she in bloody coronation robes? 

9. What was the reason that the Greeks and the Romans had not 
the advantage of printed books? 

10. This soldier, this officer — who are they? 

Note. — The pupil should be careful to use an interrogation point 
after each interrogative sentence. 

69. The following sentences illustrate the uses and also 
the forms of the interrogative pronoun who: — 

1. Who can say how extensive the effect of this single break may be ? 

2. Who were the persons that lodged in this house when it was first 
built? 

3. Whose monument is this? A neglected poet\s who died not 
long ago. 

4. " What means all this ? Where am I ? To whom does this 
palace belong ?" 

Exercise. — State in which case each interrogative pronoun is in the 
above sentences, and why. 



58 PARTS OF SPEECH 

70. From the sentences in Section 69 it may be seen 
that who as an interrogative pronoun refers to persons 
only ; that it is inflected for case, but not for number ; and 
that, since it asks about a person, it is always of the 
third person. 

71. The following sentences show the uses of the inter- 
rogative pronoun which: — 

1. Then the king said to the soldier, " Which of the twelve prin- 
cesses will you take for your wife ? " The soldier answered, u I am no 
longer young. I will take the eldest." 

2. Which of us was so witty? Was it I or you? 

3. Which of the children can the fond mother punish? 

4. There was war with its horrors, and peace at a sacrifice — which 
would he prefer? 

Exercise. — Tell the use of each interrogative pronoun in these sen- 
tences, and tell in which case each is. 

72. These show that the interrogative pronoun which 
asks about either persons or things ; that it is not inflected 
for case, the form for the nominative and objective being 
the only one ; nor is it inflected for number, as the simple 
form refers to one person or thing or more than one ; that 
it is always of the third person ; and that it is selective in 
its use, that is, it picks out one or more from a number of 
known objects. 

73. The uses of the interrogative pronoun what are 
shown in the following sentences : — 

1. What have I but my word, and my honor ? 

2. And what had been his conduct in that country ? 

3. " What did you dream about ? " asked the demon. " What did 
you dream this time ? " 



PRONOUNS 59 

4. "Good morning, Grandma, 11 said the princess, "what is that 
funny thing that jumps about so ? " 

Exercise. — Tell the use of the italicized word in each sentence ; 
then tell in which case it is. 

74. It will be observed that the interrogative pronoun 
ivhat stands for tilings ; that it is not inflected for case, or 
for number ; that it is always of the third person ; that it 
is usually singular, but may be the complement after a 
plural subject. 

75. The forms of the interrogative pronouns, then, 
are : — 





SING. AND PLUR. 


SING 


r. AND PLUR. 


SING 


. AND PLUR 


Nom. 


who ? 
whose ? 
whom ? 




which ? 




what ? 


1OSS. 

Obj. 




which ? 




what ? 



Whose, being a possessive form, is always a modifier ; 
who (with whose and whom), which, and what are also 
relative pronouns (Section 79); which and what are also 
interrogative or relative adjectives; and what has still 
other uses, to be mentioned later. 

Exercises 

1. Write six sentences using the forms who, whose, and whom as 
interrogative pronouns — two sentences for each word. 

2. Write four sentences using which as an interrogative pronoun — 
two sentences for the nominative use, and two for the objective use. 

3. Write four sentences, using what as you used which in Exercise 2. 

RELATIVE PRONOUNS 

76. The relative pronoun does the double work of join- 
ing two clauses (Section 51) and of standing for a noun. 



60 PARTS OF SPEECH 

It is so called because words of this class usually relate to 
an antecedent in another clause. Sometimes the name 
conjunctive pronoun is given them because they connect 
clauses, as conjunctions do. 

77. In order to find out the antecedent of a relative pro- 
noun, the best way at first is to divide the sentence into 
its clauses and find out what word the pronoun takes the 
place of. For example, the sentence, " He maintained 
the same cheerfulness of heart upon the scaffold which he 
used to show at his table," is made up of two statements: 
"He maintained . . . scaffold," and " he used to show 
this cheerfulness at his table." It is clear that which takes 
the place of cheerfulness. 

Exercise. — Mention the antecedent of each relative pronoun in 
sentences i, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 of the Exercise on pages 70, 71. 

78. As to the case of these words, that depends upon 
the use of each relative pronoun in its own clause. The 
same rules about case hold good here as with nouns, per- 
sonal and interrogative pronouns, etc. 

79. The simple relative pronouns are who, which, that ; 
the word what is sometimes called a double relative pro- 
noun ; and whoever, whichever, whatsoever, etc., are called 
indefinite or compound relative pronouns. 

Exercise 

(a) Unite the following sets of statements, using relative pronouns 
to join them : — 

1. All the men were lost. They were in the ship. 

2. My hair was tied down. It was very long. 

3. One made a speech. He was a nobleman. 



PRONOUNS 6l 

4. One soldier was killed. His sword was broken. 
Their "horses are useful. They are very small. 
The men have come. You sent for them. 
The watch is lost. The boy had bought it. 
Those are the men. Their sons are in the army. 
(&) In the sentences you have made, tell whether each relative pro- 
noun is the subject of its clause, the object, or a possessive modifier. 

80. The following sentences illustrate the forms and 
the uses of the relative pronoun who: — 

1. I, who had been placed under the tuition of one of my guar- 
dians, remained some time longer under his care. 

2. To us who have seen the solution, the question presents few 
difficulties. 

3. O Time ! who know'st a lenient hand to lay 

Softest on sorrow's wound. 

4. O ye who teach the ingenuous youth of nations, 

I pray ye flog them upon all occasions. 

5. The clergyman who then dwelt in the manse stood watching 
the outbreak of a long and deadly struggle. 

6. The hermit had called the dogs who made this clamor to aid 
him in his defense. 

7. Medusa was the only one of those dragon-monsters whose 
head Perseus could possibly cut off. 

8. A few barons, whose names ought to be dear to their country, 
joined Bruce in his attempt. 

9. O thou ! with whom my heart was wont to share 
From Reason's dawn each pleasure and each care. 

10. The king knew that this must be the child whom he had thrown 
into the water. 

Exercise. — Point out the antecedent of each relative pronoun, and 
give its gender, person, and number. 

81. The above sentences show that the relative pronoun 
zvho relates usually to persons, though sometimes to ani- 



62 PARTS OF SPEECH 

mals ; that it is inflected for case, but not for gender, 
number, and person. The agreement of the pronoun 
with its antecedent is, however, often shown by the form 
of the verb of which the pronoun is the subject 

82. The quotations below will illustrate the forms and 
uses of the relative pronoun which : — 

i. We heard a distant thwacking sound, which he informed me was 
a signal for the serving-up of dinner. 

2. The poor lady was herself agitated by the flutter and agitation 
which she saw in her young companion. 

3. We were escorted by a number of gentlemanlike dogs, the last of 
which was of a race that had been in the family time out of mind. 

4. The gallant Frith the eye might note, 
Whose islands on its bosom float, 
Like emeralds chased in gold. 

5. The highroads were choked with loaded wains, whose axle-trees 
crackled under the burdens of wine casks and hogsheads of ale. 

6. At the same time he delivered a letter, which my friend read to 
me as soon as the messenger had left him. 

Exercise. — In the above sentences, point out the antecedent of each 
relative pronoun, and give the person, number, and case of the latter. 

83. A study of the first four sentences in Section 82 
shows that which relates to animals and things ; that it 
has one case form for the possessive, and one for the nomi- 
native and objective; that it does not change its form to 
indicate the gender, person, and number of its antecedent. 

84. The following quotations illustrate the uses of the 
relative pronoun that : — 

1. Dear Babe, that sleepest cradled by my side. 

2. My garden, that skirted the avenue of the manse, was of pre- 
cisely the right extent. 



PRONOUNS 63 

3. In crossing the bay we met with a squall that tore our rotten 
sails to pieces. 

4. You, friends, that have stood by me all these years, help me 
now ! 

5. I was making some remarks upon a flock of peacocks, that were 
basking upon a sunny wall. 

6. Such a solitude as the Old Manse, where he plucks the fruit 
of trees that he did not plant. 

Exercise. — Give the gender, person, number, and case of each rela- 
tive pronoun in the above quotations. 

85. As shown in Section 84, that relates to persons, ani- 
mals, and things ; it has only one form for singular and 
plural number, and for all genders, numbers, and cases. 

86. To sum up all the facts about the simple relative 
pronouns, we find that : — 

Who and its forms usually refer to persons, but some- 
times to the higher animals as well. 

Which and its forms refer to animals and things. 

That relates to persons, animals, and things. 

Who has three case forms, which has two, while that has 
only one form. 

The declension of who and which is just like that of the 
interrogatives, except that the relative which has a posses- 
sive form, whose. 

Exercise 

Write sentences using the relatives who, which, and that, as follows : — 
(1) Who as subject, third person singular; (2) who as subject, sec- 
ond person plural; (3) who as object of a verb, third person plural; 
(4) form of who as possessive, first person singular ; (5, 6, 7) which 
and its forms as nominative, possessive, and objective, third person 
plural; (8, 9, 10) that nominative plural, objective plural, objective 
singular, second person. 



64 PARTS OF SPEECH 

87. What is often called a double relative pronoun, 
because it is considered equivalent to that which or those 
which. By some writers it is called an indefinite relative 
because usually no definite antecedent is expressed. 

To explain more fully, we will take a sentence : — 

The window looked out upon what in summer would have been a 
beautiful landscape. 

(i) It means "upon that which would have been," etc. ; 
in which expression that is the object of upon and which is 
the subject of would have been. Or, another way : — 

(2) As it stands, the object of upon is the noun clause 
what in summer . . . landscape ; in this clause what is the 
subject, zvould have been is the predicate, etc. 

88. The following sentences serve to illustrate the uses 
of the relative pronoun what : — 

1. In the world some persons assimilate only what is ugly and evil. 

2. What was good and nourishing food for the spirits of one genera- 
tion will not do for the next. 

3. It is my belief that social intercourse cannot long continue what 
it has been. 

4. I wandered among what once were chapels. 

5. The trial of skill was made with what were called the arms of 
courtesy. 

6. Nothing retained any sap except what was written for the passing 
day and year. 

Exercise. — Give the number and case of what in each of the sen- 
tences just quoted. 

89. The relative pronoun what is always neuter and of 
the third person ; it is usually singular, but may be plural ; 
it has only one form for number and case. 



PRONOUNS 65 

90. When who, which, and what are joined with the suf- 
fix -ever or -soever, the indefinite or compound relative 
pronouns are formed. In general they have the same uses 
as the relative pronoun what ; thus: — 

1. Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the 
Catskill Mountains. 

2. " Pass on, whosoever thou art," was the answer given by a deep, 
hoarse voice from within the hut. 

3. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. 

4. Whatever had looked ugly was now beautiful. 

5. He would hit me with his stable broom or the fork, whichever he 
might have in his hand. 

Exercise. — In the above sentences, tell the case of each indefinite 
relative pronoun, and see whether each refers to a person or to a thing. 

91. All the sentences that were studied under interroga- 
tive pronouns were direct questions, that is, quoted directly, 
in the language of the questioner himself. 

Instead of quoting a question exactly as a person asks it, 
we may put it into our own words so as to make it part of 
another sentence ; thus : " His curiosity began to awake, 
and he demanded of the guide who and what he was" 
This latter part is called an indirect question. The original 
words were, " Who and what are you ? " 

It is to be noticed that usually only a direct question is 
inclosed in quotation marks and followed by an interroga- 
tion point. 

92. Hitherto all interrogative pronouns have been stud- 
ied in direct questions and all relative pronouns in direct 
statements ; but in fact interrogative pronouns are often 
found in an indirect question contained in a statement, and 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — 5 



66 PARTS OF SPEECH 

relative pronouns may form part of a sentence making a 
direct question. 

In deciding which kind of pronoun any word is, deter- 
mine (i) whether it has an antecedent; (2) whether it 
introduces an indirect question. 

Exercise 

(a) Write five sentences having direct questions. 
(J?) Change these to indirect questions. 

(c) Tell which kind of pronoun each italicized word is in the follow- 
ing sentences : — 

1 . She sat gazing at her father, and trying to find out what was the 
matter with him. 

2. Who were the persons in whom he placed the greatest confi- 
dence, and who took the warmest interest in his schemes ? 

3. It moaned as near as near can be. 
But what it is she cannot tell. 

4. I pray your Lordship to let me know whom you will favor. 

5. His mind was probably in the state of a child's to whom a 
beautiful plaything has been promised. 

6. What is so pleasant as these jets of affection which make a 
young world for me again ? 

7. He had twenty friends who would release him from his confine- 
ment ; to which of them should he apply, was the question. 

8. He demanded again of the unknown culprit what he came there 
for, and whom he was seeking. 

(d) Rewrite Nos. 4 and 8 so as to form direct questions. 

93. An important distinction between clauses introduced 
by relative pronouns is yet to be made ; and it will best be 
brought out by studying two sentences : — 

1 . Like all men who know but a few books, he looked up to them 
with a kind of idolatry. 

2. They all liked the lad, whose frank, cordial ways and honest face 
got him a welcome in most places. 



PRONOUNS 67 

In sentence (1), the statement, " Like all men, he looked 
up to them/' etc., would not be a truthful one; the action 
is stated, not of " all men," but of " all men who know but 
a few books." The clause, who know but a few books, is 
called a restrictive clause, because it restricts or limits the 
meaning of the word it modifies. 

In sentence (2), the reader is supposed to know who 
the lad is ; the clause, whose frank, cordial ways, etc., is 
not needed to describe the lad, but adds another fact to 
what is already known. It is really equivalent to " and his 
frank, cordial ways," etc. — a conjunction and a personal 
pronoun, and is called a coordinate or unrestrictive clause. 

A relative clause that is necessary to the meaning of 
the word it modifies, is a restrictive clause. 

A relative clause that adds a fact to one already clear 
and complete, is an unrestrictive clause. 

The pronouns who and which introduce both kinds of 
clauses ; that, usually a restrictive clause only. 

94. In many cases nothing but the punctuation shows 
whether the clause is restrictive or not. If a comma were 
placed after men in sentence (1) above, and if the comma 
were omitted after lad in sentence (2), the meaning of 
each sentence would be changed. 

A comma is always used to separate an unrestrictive 
relative clause from the rest of the sentence. 

Exercise 

(a) Tell which of the relative clauses in the following sentences are 
restrictive, and which unrestrictive : — 

1. Mr. Harry, who ought to have known better, was lying on his 
face quite motionless. 



68 PARTS OF SPEECH 

2. You who are ill and sore from the buffets of Fate, have you one 
or two of these sweet physicians ? 

3. Doubtless there were thousands of men employed who were as 
good as they. 

4. He was engaged in capturing those guns at Louisburg, of which 
the arrival caused such joy. 

5. His nose curved boldly forth, flushed with a frost-bitten bloom 
that seemed the trophy of December. 

(b) Distinguish in meaning these sentences as they stand, from the 
same with commas inserted : — 

1. A traveler falls in with a berry [,] which he has never seen before. 

2. But the third sister [,] whose name was Shakejoint, said that it 
was her turn to have the eye. 

3. Hercules picked up the three golden apples [,] that were as big 
or bigger than pumpkins, and straightway set out on his journey 
homeward'. 

4. He could turn his eyes nowhere without meeting some object [,] 
which reminded him that he was a stranger. 

5. He had to deal with a people [,] whose noble weakness it is not 
to press too hard on the vanquished. 

(c) Punctuate such of the following sentences as need it, and give the 
reason in each case : — 

1 . He was soon at ease with his honest host whose manners were 
quite simple and cordial. 

2. What honest man that can choose his lot would be a prince, let 
us say? 

3. A gravel walk ran around this green beyond which was a wall 
and gate-sign. 

4. The poorest laborer was better off than King Midas whose food 
was really worth its weight in gold. 

5. Almost all who beheld him, nay, even those who cheated him, 
trusted him. 

6. This was no other than Mr. Wolfe who was soberly eating a 
chicken and salad. 



PRONOUNS 69 

7. " I must make them a present, 11 said he, clapping his hand into 
his pocket which was filled with the crisp notes. 

8. He was living with a man and woman who had seen the world, 
though they lived retired from it. 

Analysis of Complex Sentences 

95. In studying analysis in the Introduction we took up 
only those sentences which have one subject and predicate, 
and found out what elements these sentences contained. 

A sentence having only one statement, question, or 
command is a simple sentence. 

96. In Section 51, however, we studied a group of 
words having two clauses so knit together as to form 
one sentence. 

The main division, " The person was called Peter the 
Hermit," is one that makes a complete meaning when 
standing alone, that does not need the aid of any other 
clause ; the other division, " who effected so much by his 
eloquence," does not make sense when standing alone, 
but, like an adjective, modifies the word person in the pre- 
ceding clause. 

A main, principal, or independent clause is one that 
makes a statement, question, or command without the aid 
of another clause. 

A subordinate or dependent clause is one that does not 
make complete sense when alone, but is a subordinate 
element in a sentence. 

A complex sentence is one that consists of one main 
clause, and one or more subordinate clauses. 

In the study of relative pronouns especially, a knowl- 
edge of complex sentences is very necessary. 



70 PARTS OF SPEECH 

97. In the two sentences following may be seen two 
kinds of dependent, or subordinate clauses : — 

i. The great stream which fertilizes the soil is the chief highway of 
Eastern commerce. 

2. How dost thou know what it containeth? 

We may, in analyzing these, first treat each as a simple 
sentence, taking as its subject the subject of the main 
clause. This is the analysis : — 

In (i), The great stream which fertilizes the soil, is the 
subject; is the chief highway of Eastern commerce is the 
predicate. To be more minute, the bare or simple subject 
is stream, modified by a clause which fertilizes the soil ; 
which clause, modifying a noun, must be an adjective 
clause. This clause may then be analyzed : subject which, 
predicate fertilizes, etc. 

In (2), thou is the subject, dost know what it containeth 
is the predicate ; of the predicate, dost know is the verb, 
what it containeth is the object, and, having this use, must 
be a noun clause. This clause should now be analyzed 
like a simple sentence. 

An adjective clause is one having the use of an adjective. 
A noun clause is one used as subject, complement, object, 
etc., like a single noun. 

Exercise 

Point out the dependent clauses in the following sentences ; tell 
how each clause is used, then analyze it like a simple sentence : — 

1 . Amidst all the evils that threaten me, I will look up to Him for help. 

2. I have helped many young men through adventures that looked 
difficult enough beforehand. 

3. The king, who owned the bird, said that he would give the young 
man his life. 



PRONOUNS 71 

4. My landlord, who was a jolly good-natured man, took it into his 
head that 1 wanted company. 

5. I love to read books which he delighted in. 

6. Then the children saw that the long beard of the dwarf was 
tangled in his line, and that the fish had indeed almost dragged him 
into the water. 

7. He was not ill qualified to conduct the work which he had planned. 

8. The action of the magician plainly revealed to Aladdin that he 
was no friend of his, but one who designed him evil. 

ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS 

98. In studying words of this kind, some care will be 
needed in deciding whether or not the given word modifies 
a noun. If it does not modify any noun, either expressed 
or understood, it is a pronoun ; if it does modify some 
noun, expressed or understood, it is an adjective (unless 
it happens to be the possessive case of a pronoun). For 
example : — 

1 . He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but 
said nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh volley from his 
wife. 

2. One taste provoked another : and he reiterated his visits so often 
to the flagon, etc. 

In (1), the word this stands for the sentence before it, 
but does not modify ; it is a pronoun. In (2), another 
modifies taste understood, just as one modifies taste 
expressed, and both are adjectives. 

Exercise 

In the following paragraphs, tell which of the italicized words are 
pronouns, and which adjectives : — 

1. They were dressed in a quaint, outlandish fashion. Some wore 
short doublets ; others, jerkins, with long knives in their belts ; and 



72 PARTS OF SPEECH 

most of them had enormous breeches, of similar style with that of the 
guide's. One had a large head, broad face, and small piggish eyes. 
The face of another seemed to consist entirely of nose. They all had 
beards. 

2. The blast that bore it to our ears swept us out of all further 
hearing. I shall never forget that cry. It was some time before we 
could put the ship about, she was under such headway. We cruised 
about for several hours in the dense fog. We fired signal guns, and 
listened if we might hear the halloo of any survivors ; but all was 
silent. 

99. There are so many adjective pronouns that, in 
order to learn them, it is well to divide them into 
several groups. These are as follows: (i) those used 
to point out some special object, person, or expres- 
sion ; (2) those used in speaking of persons or things 
separately; (3) those which stand for some indefinite 
number of persons or things. Examples of all these 
are given. 

100. The adjective pronouns that point out are this, that 
(plurals these, those), such, the same, the former . . . the 
latter, the one . . . the other. 

Their use is shown in the following sentences : — 

1. (a) When any one exposed himself, this was made evident by 
the bullet which was sent in search of him. 

(b) The head, the diadem, the arm, — these all had sunk. 

2. (a) Have you forgotten me? That might well be the case if 
I were as much altered as yourself. 

(J?) The behavior of the present family was contrasted with that of 
the old lord and lady ; who were better folks than those now in pos- 
session. 

3. He hurled the mace against the head of the Emir, for such his 
enemy appeared. 



PRONOUNS 73 

4. Ichabod pulled up, and fell into a walk, thinking to lag behind ; 
the other did the same. 

5. His Eastern attendants wore silver collars round their throats, 
and bracelets of the same metal upon their swarthy arms and legs, of 
which the former were naked from the elbow, and the latter from mid- 
leg to ankle. 

6. The widow had two little girls, who were so like the rose-bushes 
that to the one she gave the name of Snow-White and to the other that 
of Rose-Red. 

Exercise. — Mention the word or expression for which each italicized 
adjective pronoun stands in these sentences. 

101. That and those have several uses : That may refer 
to a group of words, as in Section 100, (2) (a). That and 
those may stand for some single word, being used to 
prevent the repetition of that word, as in Section 100, 
(2) (b). Those is often used as the antecedent of a rela- 
tive pronoun, to refer to a number of persons ; thus, " ' As 
to those who have bad constitutions,' he said, ' let them 
die.' " 

The former . . . the latter and the one . . . the other axe 
useful words in pointing out two persons or objects named 
in a sentence, the former or the one referring to the first 
mentioned, the latter or the otlier referring to the last. 

102. The adjective pronouns used in speaking of persons 
or things separately are each, either, neither^ each other, and 
one another ; examples of these are : — 

1 . I could almost doubt which of us is the visionary form, or whether 
each be not the others mystery. 

2. Pleasure and study are not to be thus mixed together ; the Romans 
lose both, and prove they have no souls for either. 

3. Their eyes met, and neither, for some moments, had power to 
withdraw his gaze. 



74 PARTS OF SPEECH 

Either and neither refer regularly to two things, but 
each to any number, though singling out one by one. All 
three words are frequently used as adjectives. 

Each other and one another are very much alike in use. 
For example : — 

i. The clergyman and his father looked at each other. 

2. The fine ladies buzzed into one another's ears over their pews, and 
uttered their praises and comments. 

3. All the passengers were rubbing their eyes, comparing watches, 
and congratulating one another. 

103. Some adjective pronouns standing for an indefinite 
number of persons are shown in these sentences : — 

1. Some purchased the paltry wreaths with their lives, others by a 
toilsome servitude of years, and many sacrificed whatever was most 
valuable. 

2. To all who love human faces best for what they tell of human 
experience, Nancy's beauty has a heightened interest. 

3. The livid and motley hues completed a countenance which none 
could behold without repugnance, and few without terror and dis- 
trust. 

4. And there several were taking the slight morning repast that 
made an Italian breakfast. 

5. The witch did not reply — she seemed like one who has awakened 
for a moment from the dead. 

Exercise. — Write sentences using five of the above adjective pro- 
nouns in the nominative case, then in the objective. 

104. Some of the adjective pronouns are made up of 
the adjectives some, any, every, and no, with the words 
body, thing, one : somebody, any one, everything, nobody, etc. 
They are all singular, though referring to any of an indefi- 
nite number; when antecedents, they are followed by a 
singular pronoun. 



PRONOUNS 75 

These compounds join with the word else to form other 
compounds ; as, some one else, everybody else, anything 
else, etc. 

That these groups are used as single pronouns is shown 
by the way in which they form the possessive case ; 
thus : — 

If Mr. Pickwick had declined to keep himself up for anybody else's 
sake, it would have occurred to him that he might as well for his 
own. 

Exercise. — Write sentences using three of the above words as sub- 
jects, four as objects, three as possessives. 

PARSING OF PRONOUNS 

105. The parsing of adjective pronouns differs little 
from that of nouns. For example, in the sentence, " Many 
are called, but few are chosen," the word many is an ad- 
jective pronoun, standing for a number of persons ; plural, 
masculine, or feminine; third person; nominative case, 
subject of the verb. 

In parsing pronouns in general, follow the order for 
parsing nouns ; also, if the pronoun is a simple relative, 
tell what its antecedent is. 

SYNTAX OF PRONOUNS 

106. When personal pronouns refer to two or more ante- 
cedents in the same sentence, clearness requires that the 
pronouns should be used in such a way that the meaning 
can be clearly seen. Observe this sentence : — 

A hale, ruddy-faced, white-headed farmer appeared to be the wit 
of the village, for I observed all his companions to wait with open 
mouths for his retorts, and burst into a gratuitous laugh before they 
could well understand them. 



76 PARTS OF SPEECH 

In this we can hardly fail to see that they refers to com- 
panions and them refers to retorts ; but now and then 
sentences are so carelessly put together that the reader 
can get the meaning only after a good deal of trouble ; 
and sometimes the apparent meaning is ludicrously 
different from that intended. 

When Pittacus, after the death of his brother, who had left 
him a good estate, was offered a great sum of money by the king of 
Lydia, he thanked him for his kindness, but told him that he had 
already more by half than he knew what to do with. 

In this case some labor might be avoided by the use of 
a direct quotation, thus : " When . . . Lydia, he said, ' I 
thank you for your kindness, but I have already more 
by half than 1/ " etc. 

His father died soon after his birth, and his early life was spent 
in poverty. 

This absurd statement would be avoided by the repe- 
tition of the antecedents, or by the use of some distin- 
guishing word; as, " His father died soon after the boys 
birth, and the early life of the latter was spent in 
poverty." 

107. Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in 
gender, person, and number. For instance, if the ante- 
cedent of a personal pronoun is singular, masculine, third 
person, the pronoun will be he> his, or him ; if the ante- 
cedent is feminine, so will the pronoun be; etc. 

If the antecedent of a personal pronoun is a word in 
the third person, singular number, that does not make 
clear the sex of the person named, the pronoun is to be 
of the masculine gender, third person, singular number. 



PRONOUNS J? 

Examples of the agreement of personal pronouns : — 

1 . Every student, before he is matriculated, must subscribe his assent 
to the thirty-nine articles. 

2. As soon as I was able to converse with the natives, I began to feel 
some satisfaction in their company. 

3. Every one looked on himself 'as in the utmost danger. 

4. Every man who rises above the common level has received two 
educations : the first from his teachers ; the second, more personal and 
important, from himself. 

Exercise. — Mention the antecedent of each pronoun in these four 
sentences, and show in what respects they agree. 

108. An error frequently made is caused by one's for- 
getting that the antecedent may be singular in form while 
referring to many persons or things separately ; and that 
consequently the pronoun should take the singular form. 
An example of this error is, "Any one who has a question 
they wish answered can drop it into the box." 

Note. — A collective noun referring to persons or things as a unit 
will take a singular pronoun ; as, " The Ways and Means Committee 
had just completed its labors." But if the collective noun refers to the 
individuals of the collection, a plural pronoun is used ; as, " The quiet 
congregation of trees set their feet in the flood." 

109. Another error is caused by making the pronoun 
agree in person and number with some word near the an- 
tecedent and not with the antecedent itself. Example of 
the correct construction : "Each of us [two] shall count 
his own wrinkles on the other's brow and his white hairs 
upon the other's head." 

Instead of this, a careless writer would have said, "Each 
of us shall count our wrinkles," etc., which is not only bad 
syntax, but also nonsense. 



78 PARTS OF SPEECH 

110. Sometimes, on account of haste in writing, an intro- 
ductory pronoun of one person and number is followed in 
the same sentence by pronouns of other persons and num- 
bers referring to the same person as the first ; also the 
old and the common form of the second person may be 
thoughtlessly confused in the same sentence ; as, "Every- 
one should be careful to keep your own pen " ; " Wilt thou> 
go with me, or can you best succeed alone ? " 

111. In using pronouns care must be taken to mark the 
nominative uses by the nominative forms, and the objective 
uses by the objective forms. 

Objective forms may be improperly used for the nomi- 
native forms in the following ways : — 

(i) In the language of the ignorant or heedless, who 
employ the objective forms as subjects of verbs ex- 
pressed; as, " There now, father, you won't work in the 
garden till it's all easy, and you and me can mark out 
the beds." 

(2) In such a sentence as this, " If such as thee are 
noble, then are we vile sinners indeed," the writer forgets 
that the verb is understood after thee, and that as is not a 
preposition. The nominative form should be used to mark 
the use of the word as subject : " If such as thou [art], are 
noble, then are," etc. The same error often occurs after 
the conjunction than. Example of the correct use : " I 
think nobody could be happier than we [are]." 

(3) A common misuse of the nominative forms for the 
objective is the placing of nominative pronouns as objects 
of verbs and prepositions; especially when two pronouns 
of different persons, or a noun and a pronoun, are used 



PRONOUNS 79 

together. The proper way to determine which form of 
the pronoun is correct is to take each of the words sepa- 
rately, and see if it can stand in the position and express 
correctly the relation. 

In the sentence, "The policeman directed her and /to 
the wrong place," it is right to say, "The policeman di- 
rected her" but we may not say, " directed /." 

(4) The objective form of the relative and of the inter- 
rogative pronoun who is sometimes misused for the nomi- 
native, and the nominative form for the objective. " He 
is a boy whom I know is careful" should be changed to 
" He is a boy who I know is careful," since who is the sub- 
ject of the verb is. "Who do I owe this to?" should be 
changed to " Whom do I owe this to ? " since whom is the 
object of the preposition to. 

112. To avoid misunderstanding, a relative pronoun 
should be placed as near as possible to its antecedent. 
" Wanted, a nurse to take care of a baby who can sew " 
should be changed to " Wanted, a nurse who can sew, to 
take care of a baby," since it is the nurse who can sew, 
not the baby. 

113. In order that a subject may be made more striking 
and emphatic, it is sometimes mentioned and then repeated 
in the form of a pronoun instead of having its verb just 
after it in the usual way ; as, " Thy rod and thy staff, they 
comfort me." 

Such repetition of words is called pleonasm. 

Notice that the purpose is emphasis, and the arrange- 
ment of words is intentionally made ; but when, in speak- 
ing, people carelessly repeat a subject, the only effect is 



80 PARTS OF SPEECH 

that the sentence is slovenly ; as, " Napoleon fought well, 
but Bliicher he was late." 

114. An error of another kind is the omission of pro- 
nouns that are necessary to the meaning of the sentence. 
This occurs often in business letters ; in the language of 
those who imitate this manner of expression in their writ- 
ing ; and sometimes in sentences where the omission 
causes a different meaning from that intended. 

Exercise 
Explain the use of italicized words in these sentences : — 

i. The committee differed in their opinions to-day. 

2. The tired child came to its mother's arms. 

3. The speaker thought that every mechanic, every farmer, every 
tradesman should give his hearty support. 

4. Either the judge or the lawyer must acknowledge his error. 

5. I dislike mathematics because it is difficult. 

6. The jury gave its verdict within an hour. 

Sentences for General Exercise 

1. They squeezed the heads of some with knotted cords till they 
pierced their brains, while they threw others into dungeons swarming 
with serpents and toads. 

2. What has the law of Moses done for thee that thou shouldest die 
for it? 

3. This having the rainy months of March and April to water it, 
sprung up very pleasantly, and yielded a very good crop. 

4. I dug a piece of ground for a cornfield, and made a fence about 
it with stakes that grew into a hedge, as at my country house. This 
kept out the wild goats and hares, which before had done much harm 
to my crops. 

5. But how was I to get there? I thought of the ship's boat that 
had been thrown up on the shore by the storm, so I went to look 
at it. 



PRONOUNS 8 I 

6. The more we kept in each other's company, the greater cox- 
combs we mutually grew. But neither of us need apprehend any 
such misfortune now. 

7. In its upper stories are apartments where the inhabitants of 
earth may converse with those of the moon. 

8. But even here, two men who watched the light had made a fire, 
that through the loophole in the thick stone wall shed out a ray of 
brightness. 

9. Joining their horny hands over the rough table at which they 
sat, they wished each other Merry Christmas in their can of grog; 
and one of them struck up a sturdy song that was like a gale in 
itself. 

10. She was very pretty ; with a ripe little mouth that seemed made 
to be kissed ; all kinds of good little dots about her chin, that 
melted into one another when she laughed. 

1 1 . The remainder, if any, may connect themselves with whatever 
rank of the procession they shall find best adapted to their tastes and 
consciences. 

12. Thus threatened, the unhappy scarecrow had nothing for it but 
to puff away for dear life. 

13. Let even an affectionate Goliath get himself tied to a small tender 
thing, dreading to hurt it by pulling, and which of the two, pray, will be 
master ? 

14. Can thy gods, whosoever they be, look with wrath on a conflict 
with such as these? 

15. Now, old boy, pray the gods that that victor be neither of the 
Romans ! 

16. The fox, who had attended the steps of his fell mistress, uttered 
a dismal howl. 

17. The challengers, rallying each from his pavilion, mounted their 
horses and descended to the platform. 

18. Not for the world would I have sought sympathy from her or 
from anybody else. 

19. The surgeon who attended me at one time talked of trepanning. 
This was an awful word ; but I now doubt whether anything serious 
had followed. 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — 6 



82 PARTS OF SPEECH 

20. For what had we come? To see London. And what were the 
limits within which we proposed to crowd that little feat? 

21. Whatever may be the number of those in whom this faculty of 
dreaming splendidly can be supposed to lurk, there are perhaps not 
many in whom it is developed. 

22. She could turn her hand to anything; of which I will give you 
two memorable instances. 

23. The man certainly did utter the jest ; but who it was that he 
stole it from is another question. 

24. What could be done — who was it that could do it — to check 
the storm-flight of these maniacal horses? 

25. Like the fabled opossum we have read of, who, when he spied 
the unerring gunner from his gum-tree, said, " It's no use, Major, 1 will 
come down," so S. gave himself up to his pursuers. 

26 He confided the command of his various cities to such as had 
distinguished themselves by valor. 



ADJECTIVES 

CLASSES OF ADJECTIVES 

115. To discover the different classes of adjectives, let 
us examine the following sentences: — 

i. Telemachus was for jumping overboard; but the tough old crew 
held the silly , bawling lad. 

2. A red-headed calf was observing her with alarmed doubt. 

The words in italics all modify the nouns that follow 
them, and all describe, or tell what kind of crew, lad, calf, 
etc. They are called descriptive adjectives. 

i. It was a bright autumn Sunday, sixteen years after. 

2. Throwing on some dried leaves, he raised a flame. 

3. There were not many days that he was not seen riding. 

The word sixteen mentions an exact, definite number; 
some and many express an indefinite amount or number ; 
all such are called adjectives of quantity; or, very often, 
numeral adjectives. 

1 . Mother Rigby took the pipe from her own mouth, and thrust it 
into the crevice which represented the same feature in the pumpkin 
visage of the scarecrow. 

2. We had been told that this flower had lain in the hand of the 
statue year after year. 

In these two sentences are found the same words that 
were studied as pronouns that point out. Since they now 
modify, they are called demonstrative adjectives. 

S3 



84 PARTS OF SPEECH 

116. The classes of adjectives, then, are descriptive, 
numeral, and demonstrative. 

Descriptive adjectives tell of what kind an object is, or 
describe it by telling some of its qualities. 

Numeral adjectives tell either exactly or in a general 
way how much of a thing is spoken of, or how many per- 
sons or things are meant. 

Demonstrative adjectives stand before a noun and point 
out which person or thing is referred to. 

117. Descriptive adjectives may be either simple words 
or compounds of several words, or adjectives derived from 
proper nouns ; examples of these are : — 

1. AH Baba, who expected a dark, distnai cavern, was surprised to 
see a well-lighted and spacious chamber, which received the light from 
an opening at the top of the rock. 

2. The British navy sent a press gang to the Scotch vessel, and 
Dale and his friend were impressed. 

3. On the greatest and most useful of all human inventions, the inven- 
tion of alphabetical writing, Plato did not look with much complacency. 

4. The one was a slouch-hatted, long-cloaked, sour-faced fanatic like 
the rest of you; the other was a short, sturdy fellow, — a black-haired 
knave. 

5. The flax had pretty little blue flowers as delicate as the wings of 
a moth. 

6. The little girPs hands were almost numb. 

7. It sang of the quiet churchyard where the white roses grow and 
the fresh grass is watered by tears. 

Exercise 

(a) Tell what noun each descriptive adjective modifies in these 
sentences. 

(b) Write twenty sentences with descriptive adjectives, some modify- 



ADJECTIVES 85 

ing the subject, some the predicate nominative, some the direct or 
indirect object. 

118. The following sentences show the various kinds of 
numeral adjectives. These may signify: (1) an exact car- 
dinal number; (2) an indefinite number; (3) persons or 
things separately : — 

1. Not one Londoner in ten thousand can lay down the rules for 
the proper use of " shall " and " will." Yet not one Londoner in a mil- 
lion ever misplaces his " shall " or " will." 

2. It has been observed by many writers that Socrates was several 
times present when it was being acted. 

3. There were none left but a few servants and stragglers of the 
army. 

4. One consideration I hope will have so?ne weight. 

5. They may do so without any hindrance to business. 

6. The exercise consists in brandishing two short sticks grasped 
in each hand and loaded with lead at either end. 

7. He entertains his mother every night with observations that he 
makes both in town and in court. 

8. When the arguments press equally on both sides in matters that 
are indifferent to us, the safest method is to give up ourselves to neither 
[side] . 

Exercise 

Copy all the adjectives in italics above, and divide them into three 
classes. 

119. The demonstrative adjectives are the ordinal nu- 
merals and those words that are used also as pronouns that 
point out ; thus : — 

1. In my third paper I mentioned some of these false wits among the 
ancients ; and in this I shall give the reader two or three that nourished 
in the same early ages. 



86 PARTS Of SPEECH 

2. Some persons, he said, might accuse him. He desired such per- 
sons to remember, etc. 

3. Now here are two objects : one is the protection of the persons 
and estates of citizens from injury ; the other is the propagation of 
religious truth. 7 he former belongs to this life ; the latter to that 
which is to come. 

Exercise 

(a) Tell what noun each demonstrative adjective modifies in these 
three sentences. 

(&) Select five demonstrative adjectives from Section 119, and use 
these in sentences of your own. 

120. Some relative and interrogative pronouns are folr 
lowed by nouns, and may then be parsed as adjectives. 
Frequently this use makes the meaning clearer than if the 
words stood alone as pronouns. The word what is used 
as an adjective also in an exclamation. 

Examples of these uses are : — 

1. Now which way could they wend? All was rayless. 

2. In the whirl of London life, what man sees his neighbor, what 
brother his sister ? 

3. He leaped aside, which movement saved him from instant death. 

4. What fearful shapes and shadows beset his path ! 

NUMBER AND COMPARISON 

121. There are two ways in which certain adjectives 
change their form to express different meanings ; these 
inflections are for number and comparison. 

122. The words this and that (plurals these and those) 
are the only adjectives that are inflected for number; most 
adjectives modify both singular and plural nouns, but do 
not change their form to correspond to that of the noun 
modified. 



ADJECTIVES 87 

123. A great many adjectives express quality ; as, " He 
was happy himself, and disposed to make all the world 
happy" In the word happy, nothing is implied as to the 
amount of the quality of joyfulness or happiness. 

If it be desired to indicate more of the quality, one may 
say, u He became happier in his old age." 

The form happiest expresses as high a degree of the 
quality as can be shown by the form of the adjective; as, 
" His happiest moments were the busiest." 

Comparison is that inflection of an adjective which ex- 
presses different degrees of a quality. 

124. There are three degrees of comparison, as illus- 
trated above. Degree means step, and the degrees ex- 
press the amount of quality step by step. They are : — 

The positive degree, indicating the simple quality ; the 
comparative degree, indicating a greater degree of the 
quality ; the superlative degree, showing the greatest de- 
gree of the quality. 

125. There are only two inflections for comparison ; -er 
to form the comparative degree, and -est to form the super- 
lative. But there are so many words in English which 
would become harsh and awkward if another syllable were 
added, that the adverbs more and most are widely used to 
denote the two degrees of comparison. The adverbs less 
and least are used to denote comparison on a descending 
scale ; as, less happy, least happy. 

As a general rule, words of one syllable take the endings 
-er and -est, as also do words of two syllables that may be 
smoothly pronounced with these endings ; and all others 



88 PARTS OF SPEECH 

express the degrees by means of more and most. Yet this 
must not be regarded as a fixed rule : for more and most 
may be used before any words, no matter what the number 
of syllables — in Section 123 it would be just as correct to 
say more happy, most happy ; it is largely a matter of taste, 
- after all. 

126. Many descriptive adjectives have meanings that do 
not admit of degrees in comparison ; for example : — 

Present, past, future ; preferable, superior, inferior ; main, chief, prin- 
cipal ; immutable, divine, everlasting ; supreme, almighty ; universal, 
complete, round, level, etc. 

Exercise 

Tell which of the following words are capable of comparison, and 
use their comparative and superlative forms in sentences : — 

Loud, wonderful, fierce, modern, unceasing, daily, predominant, 
healthy, red, new, unconscious, sharp-tongued, gentle, miniature, hand- 
some, familiar, superficial, moral, shallow, large, perpetual, beautiful. 



127. The following adjectives are 


compared irregu- 


larly : — 






good or well 


better 


best 


bad, evil, ill 


worse 


worst 


little 


less 


least 


many, much 


more 


most 


old 


elder, older 


eldest, oldest 


near 


nearer 


nearest, next 


far 


farther, further 


farthest, furthest 


late 


later 


latest, last 



Exercise 

Write sentences using each of the comparative and each of the 
superlative forms given in the above table. 



ADJECTIVES 89 



PARSING OF ADJECTIVES 

128. In parsing adjectives, the pupil should understand 
that the adjective may stand in various positions, as fol- 
lows : — 

(1) Immediately before the noun, and closely connected 
with it ; as : — 

1 . They called for the finest silk and the purest gold ; this they put 
into their own pockets. 

2. He passed through the streets with a hasty step, but a quick and 
observant eye. 

(2) Before or after the noun, but more loosely connected 
with it, so that the adjective may be taken as completing a 
verb understood. Examples of this are : — 

1. Quick and watchful, the agile Greek leaped lightly aside [mean- 
ing, "The agile Greek, who was quick and watchful 11 ]. 

2. The poor old slave knew not with what arguments to enlighten 
an ignorance so dark and yet so beautiful ["that was so dark and yet 
so beautiful "] . 

(3) Part of the predicate, in which the adjective helps 
the verb to assert some quality of the subject or the 
object : — 

1 . The words grow chilled and trite if I banish from them allusions 
to the gods. 

2. Who art thou, that callest thyself greater in art? 

In parsing an adjective, tell : — ■ 

(1) The class and sub-class to which it belongs. 

(2) The degree of comparison, if compared. 

(3) What word or expression it modifies. 

Also give the number, if the word has number. 



90 PARTS OF SPEECH 

SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES 

129. Care should be used in the placing of all adjective 
modifiers, especially phrases and clauses. 

Sometimes when a writer has in his mind a certain idea 
which seems clear to him, he puts it into such words as to 
make an obscure or even a ridiculous statement ; thus : — 

i. He dropped his knife in his retreat against the wall, which his 
rapid antagonist kicked under the table. 

2. We have received a basket of oranges from our friend G. B., for 
which he will please accept our compliments, some of which are nearly 
six inches in diameter. 

In the first sentence, the clause " which . . . table " 
really modifies knife, but is placed so as to modify wall. 
(See Section 112.) The pupil should criticise the second 
sentence for himself. 

130. Few remarks need be made about the agreement of 
an adjective and its noun in number, since only two adjec- 
tives are inflected for number. But an error is often made 
in the use of a plural adjective with the words sort and 
kind; as, " These kind of books," " Those sort of trees." 

The user of such expressions thinks of the noun in the 
phrase following, and not of the one modified by the adjec- 
tive ; one should say, "this kind," "these kinds," "that 
sort," etc. 

131. When, by the use of the comparative degree, an 
object is compared with different objects of the same class, 
this fact should be indicated by the word other before the 
second term. If this sentence, " Under the administration 



ADJECTIVES 91 

of Cromwell, England was more dreaded than any power 
in Christendom, " is taken as it stands, England was not in 
Christendom or was more dreaded than itself, which is ab- 
surd; write rather, "than any other power," etc. 

The word other should not be used when an object is 
compared with a different class of objects ; as, " The old 
knight thought that London Bridge was a greater piece of 
work than any of the seven wonders of the world." 

132. In using the superlative degree, other should not 
follow, because the thing compared is always included in 
the class of objects with which it is compared. The sen- 
tence, " England was the most dreaded of all the other 
powers in Christendom," would be as faulty as the first 
one in Section 131, from which Arwas omitted. 

133. As the comparative and superlative degrees are 
expressed by the use of -er, -est, or more, most, it is never 
correct to use both together, as "more bolder." 

Such errors are not likely to occur often, but one scarcely 
better is sometimes made by pupils and is found now and 
then in print, — that of using more and most with words 
naturally of comparative or superlative meaning ; as in the 
sentences : — 

1 . He is now the manager of one of the most leading printing com- 
panies in New York. 

2. While my successor may be more preferable to the politicians, 
I am reasonably sure that, etc. 

Sentences for General Exercise 

1. But the question with respect to them is not where they were, 
but which way they were going. 



92 PARTS OF SPEECH 

2. I slept in a tree, and next morning I traveled on about four miles 
in a northerly direction. 

3. Cabinets of gems, each cabinet a gem, filled up the interstices 
of the columns ; the most precious woods lined the thresholds and 
composed the doors. 

4. The valley below was so green and fresh and beautiful that it 
looked like a planted garden. 

5. The only thing I could think of was to get a great block of hard 
wood, and scoop a round hole in it. 

6. In a deep recess, at a little distance, was a covered seat, in which 
two or three poorer travelers were resting. 

7. The first door leads to the staircase ; the second is but a false 
recess, in which stood a statue of bronze. 

8. When I reached this hill I found that there had been three canoes 
more of savages at that place. 

9. He was a very handsome man, tall and well-shaped, and about 
twenty-six years of age. 

10. It was only at the outer side of these tables that the guests 
reclined ; the inner space was left untenanted, for the greater con- 
venience of the waiters. 

11. In the far Judea, and in the city of Nain, there dwelt a widow, 
humble of spirit and sad of heart ; for of all the ties of life one son 
alone was spared to her. 

12. The passion of love in its nature has been thought to resemble 
fire ; for which reason the words fire and flame are made use of to 
signify love. 

13. Every reader's memory may supply him with innumerable 
instances of the same nature. 

14. For, high-souled Maid, what sorrow would it be 
That Mountain floods should thunder as before, 
And Ocean bellow from his rocky shore, 
And neither awful Voice be heard by thee! 

15. This, he thought, could only be accomplished by means of 
Cromwell, and the greater part of England was of the same opinion. 

16. He is griping and gold-thirsty to a proverb ; the witness of such 
men is to be bought. 



ADJECTIVES 93 

17. My dream was past ; it had no further change, 
It was of a strange order, that the doom 
Of these two creatures should be thus traced out. 

18. That day and the next were spent in tranquillity. 

19. Is it for a brave soldier to inquire from what quarter his enemies 
are to come? 

20. Restless and anxious, the priest consumed the day in wandering 
through the most sequestered walks. 

21. Wherever he goes he pays a visit to whatever prince or gentle- 
man of note resides upon his road. 

22. A low murmuring sound, as of stifled voices and clanking chains, 
now reached me. 

ARTICLES 

134. In the Introduction it was explained that the word 
the is an adjective, since it always limits the meaning of a 
noun. This word and an (or a) are called articles. They 
always modify, and the noun modified is never omitted 
unless some other adjective follows the article; as, "The 
old way and the new." In some grammars, articles are 
classed as a separate part of speech. 

135. An or a is more like a numeral adjective in its 
meaning, being a worn-down form of one ; the is nearest to 
a demonstrative adjective in meaning, being a worn-down 
form of the demonstrative that. 

An or a is used in speaking of any object of a class ; as, 
an apple, a man, a flower ; the is used in speaking of some 
particular object that has been mentioned, or one that the 
reader or listener is familiar with ; as, the apple, the man, 
the flower, — some special one. 

A good example of their use is the following : — ■ 

He saw Silas Marner leaning against a stile with a heavy bag on 
his back, instead of resting the bag on the stile. 



94 PARTS OP SPEECH 

After stile and bag have been introduced by means of 
a, they are spoken of as familiar terms by means of the. 
The is called the definite article ; an or a, the indefinite. 

136. The form an is used before vowel sounds ; the 
form a before consonant sounds. 

The sound of the first letter of a word must be noticed, 
for often a consonant is silent and the word begins with a 
vowel sound ; on the other hand, some letters may be vow- 
els or consonants, according to their position, and hence 
the word may begin seemingly with a vowel, but really 
with a consonant. 

Examples : a youth, a luxury, an eager welcome, a humble soul, an 
honor, such a one, a union. 

Exercise. — ■ Write sentences using an or a before each of the follow- 
ing words : honorable, orange, humble, harbor, age, church, year, ocean, 
European, American. 

137. When two or more adjectives, joined by conjunc- 
tions, modify the same noun, the article is used before 
each adjective, provided the noun expressed and that 
understood refer to different persons or things. For 
example : — 

1. Temple took part in the famous controversy about the ancient 
and the modern learning. 

2. After hesitating for some time between a military and a commer- 
cial life, he had at length been placed, etc. 

Instead of repeating the article before each of two sin- 
gular nouns in such case, one article may be used before 
the first adjective, followed by the noun in the plural; 
thus : — 



• 



ADJECTIVES 95 

They watched his lips in the hope that he would, at least, let fall 
some unguarded word, indicating the hopes or fears entertained by the 
English and Dutch govern ments. 

138. When two or more nouns, names of different per- 
sons or things, are joined by conjunctions, the article is 
used before each noun, for confusion might arise from the 
omission of the articles ; as, " This hall is a lasting monu- 
ment to the painter and the sculptor" [two persons]. 

Exercise 

Tell the difference between these sentences as they stand, and the 
same with the articles omitted : — 

i. God is just in all his dealings with [a] people. 

2. I have lost a German and [an] English dictionary. 

3. The nation began to find out to what [a] man it had intrusted, 
without conditions, all its dearest interests, on what [a] man it had 
lavished its fondest affection. 

4. Though a prelate might hold that Paul directed men to obey [a] 
Nero, it might not be perfectly safe. 

5. In every part of the country, the name of [a] courtier had become 
a by-word of reproach. 

6. While Joseph was in jail he interpreted the dream of the butler 
and [the] baker. 



VERBS AND VERBALS 

139. Verbs have already been spoken of as asserting 
words ; they tell or declare something of a person or 
thing, which is called the subject; as: — 

i. Four times his horse had been shot under him. 

2. We feel that we are surroiinded by great men. 

3. She smiled inwardly, whilst following the lad's narrative, to 
recognize in his simple tales about his mother, traits of family resem- 
blance. 

We find here assertions of action or being made by 
means of verbs ; some simple, some consisting of phrases 
of two or three words. 

A verb is a word used as a predicate, to say something 
about a person or a thing. 

140. Besides the word having a subject, in sentence 
(3), Section 139, there are two others having something 
of the nature of verbs, — following and to recognize. Both 
of these express action, but neither of them has a subject; 
both merely have the verbal idea without the power of 
asserting, and to them is given the name, verbals. 

For the present no full discussion of these words will 
be given, but this at least may be said : a word ending in 
-ing, -ed, -d, -t, or -n, and belonging to some noun or pro- 
noun without describing it, is a verbal called a participle ; 
a verbal word having the simple form of a verb, and 
used as a noun or a modifier, is called an infinitive. 

96 



VERBS AND VERBALS 97 

Following is a participle, since it ends in ing and be- 
longs to the subject she without describing it; {to) recog- 
nize is an infinitive, because it has the simple form of a 
verb and modifies smiled. 

Exercise 

Tell whether each of the italicized words below is a verb, a parti- 
ciple, or an infinitive, and give your reason : — 

1. He reached his destination at length, and foicnd no small com- 
pany assembled. 

2. Mr. W. paid his money, and was accommodated with a seat in 
the gallery commanding a perfect view. 

3. Lord March, who was by no means prodigal of politeness, see?ned 
to show singular deference to him. 

4. Whilst thus engaged, Lord M. spied the Virginian. 

5. We had promised to have our sport together. 

6. It was beautiful to see our ladies forgiving one another, smiling, 
joking, after the hard words of yesterday. 

7. He wept genuine tears, finding he could produce them. 

8. The warriors, when the bugle sang truce, fraternized and ex- 
changed tobacco pouches and wine, ready to seize their firelocks and 
knock each other's heads off when the truce was over. 

CLASSES OF VERBS 
141. As to their use, verbs are divided into fewer classes 
than most of the other parts of speech. For one division, 
examine the verbs in the following sentences : — 

1. He has rescued two unfortunate people. 

2. He saw the beef-bone reflected. 

3. With each bumper his admiration grew stronger. 

4. What a shock that seizure had been ! 

In (1), has rescued has the object people ; in (2), saw with 
its complement reflected has the object beef -bone. These 
are called transitive verbs, from a Latin word, meaning to 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — 7 



98 PARTS OF SPEECH 

go over, since the action is represented as passing over 
from the subject to some object. 

In (3), grew expresses action, but is completed by the 
adjective stronger without needing an object; in (4), had 
been is completed by the noun shock, yet does not express 
action, but being, or existence. Verbs of this class are 
called intransitive, since no action passes over. 

Exercises 

(a) Tell which of the verbs in the preceding exercise are transitive 
and which are intransitive. 

(b) Write three sentences having intransitive verbs followed by 
predicate nouns, three followed by predicate adjectives ; three with 
transitive verbs followed by direct and indirect objects, three followed 
by direct object and predicate objective. 

142. Often the same verb may be transitive or intransi- 
tive, according to its use in the sentence ; for example, 
"The man sleeps" "The man is sleeping his last sleep;" 
"The sailor drowns in the roaring sea," "The roaring sea 
drowns him ; " " Plants grow here," " This gardener grows 
fine plants." 

143. Again, verbs may be divided into auxiliary and 
principal verbs. Many predicates are verb-phrases, the 
first word of which merely helps the last word to express 
the action clearly and fully. 

Examples of such are as follows : — 
" Society has lost many of its local peculiarities. ,, 
" I have been awakened hy them." 
" Will you give me that beautiful flag ? " 
" Its gilded vaults shall lie in rubbish." 
" Every one was asking about the wonderful nightin- 
gale." 



VERBS AND VERBALS 99 

In the sentences quoted, the auxiliary verbs are has, 
have been, will, shall, and was. The auxiliary verbs, then, 
are shall, will, and the forms of be and have. (As to may, 
can, would, should, etc., see pages 122-123.) 

144. Principal verbs, or notional verbs, as they are also 
called, are those that have a meaning and force of their 
own ; they contain the real verb idea. In the sentences 
under Section 143, the principal verbs (participle or infini- 
tive forms) are lost, awakened, give, lie, and asking. 

Of the above list of auxiliary verbs, be and have may at 
times be principal verbs ; as in the sentences, " He was, 
in truth, an odd mixture," " He has a broad, full face." 

Exercise 

In this paragraph, distinguish transitive verbs from intransitive, and 
auxiliary from principal verbs : — 

The animal he bestrode was a broken-down plow-horse, that had 
outlived almost everything but his viciousness. He was gaunt and 
shaggy, with a ewe neck, and a head like a hammer. His rusty mane 
and tail were tangled and knotted with burs. One eye had lost its 
pupil, and was glaring and spectral, but the other had the gleam of 
a genuine devil in it. He had, in fact, been a favorite steed of his 
master's, the choleric Van Ripper. 

145. Either by inflection or by combination with the 
auxiliaries, verbs may express the relations of tense, voice, 
person, number, and mood. 

TENSE 

146. As there are three divisions of time, the three 
chief tenses are the present, the past, and the future ; for 



IOO PARTS OF SPEECH 

example, "The boy stands" "the boy stood" "the boy 
will stand." 

Tense is that form of the verb which indicates the time 
of the action or being. 

The verbs stand and stood show by their form that the 
action is thought of as being somewhere in present or in 
past time ; will stand is a verb phrase made up of an auxil- 
iary and an infinitive, to express action somewhere in future 
time. In each of the three the action is entirely indefi- 
nite as to beginning, continuance, or completion in its 
particular period. 

147. If the purpose is to speak of an action as finished 
with reference to some other time, the perfect tenses are 
used; as, "The boy has stood there ten minutes; " "The 
boy had stood there ten minutes when he sat down;" 
" The boy will have stood there much longer before he 
may sit down/' 

The first sentence means that the action began in the 
past and has continued till the present time ; the second, 
that the action was completed before some other action 
taking place in past time ; the third, that the action is to 
be completed before another action in future time. 

Has stood is in the present perfect tense ; had stood, in 
the past perfect ; will have stood, in the future perfect. 

148. Not only this idea of action completed with refer- 
ence to some particular time may be expressed, but a still 
more exact impression is made by the definite, or progres- 
sive, forms. Thus, instead of the simple, indefinite 
forms in Section 146 and the perfect forms in Section 
147, one may say, "The boy is standing, was standing, 



VERBS AND VERBALS IOI 

will be standing, has been standing, had been standing, 
will have been standing." 

These express clearly the continuance of the action. 
It is true, a verb like stana 'has in itself an idea of con- 
tinuance, yet the forms just given are more vivid and 
definite than those preceding. If such verbs as shoot, 
call, throw, spring, choose, etc., are used in the definite 
forms, the effect is still more noticeable. 

The definite forms are composed of the verbs is, was, 
will be, have been, etc., and an imperfect participle. 

149. To sum up, the forms and phrases of a verb for 
expressing action in present, past, and future time may be 
exhibited in the following table : — 

PRESENT TIME 

Indefinite, He calls. 

Definite, He is calling. 

Perfect, He has called. 

Perfect definite, He has been calling. 

PAST TIME 

Indefinite, He called. 

Definite, He was calling. 

Perfect, He had called. 

Perfect definite, He had been calling. 

FUTURE TIME 

Indefinite, He will call. 

Definite, He will be calling. 

Perfect, He will have called. 

Perfect definite, He will have been calling. 

Exercise. — As in the above table, write the tense forms of the verbs 
begin, blow, co7ne, grow, take (see Section 169). 



102 PARTS OF SPEECH 

150. Usually each tense form represents the time for 
which it is named, but to the general rule there are some 
noteworthy exceptions. By special meaning or by con- 
nection with other words in the sentence, some tense forms 
may express action or being in the following ways : — 

(i) The present tense may represent past time in vivid 
narration, the event being pictured as v actually going on 
before the speaker ; as, " A soft hand is held out after this 
pretty speech, a pair of very well-preserved blue eyes look 
exceedingly friendly. Harry grasps his cousin's hand," etc. 

(2) The present often represents future time, in both 
independent and dependent clauses ; as, " He takes a trip 
to New York next month ; " " When he comes home, 
please tell him I have called." This latter use is very 
common. 

(3) The present perfect also may represent future time 
in a dependent clause ; thus, " I will not return till he has 
come with some message for me." 

(4) The past tense may represent present time in such 
sentences as, " If he asked me [now], I should tell him ; " 
" If my mother were here, I should endure the pain better." 

Exercise 

(a) Tell in what tense each verb is in the following sentences, and 
what time each expresses : — 

1. I spoke rudely to my friend, and would ask pardon. 

2. How far had it gone, was now the question. 

3. We feel that we are surrounded by the congregated bones of 
the great men of past times, who have filled history with their deeds, 
and earth with their renown. 

4. And now they pause, and the soft voices of the choir break out 
into sweet gushes of melody: they soar aloft and warble along the 



VERBS AND VERBALS 



103 



roof, and seem to play about these lofty vaults like the pure airs of 
heaven. 

5. The stillness, the desertion and obscurity, that were gradually 
prevailing around, gave a deeper and more solemn interest to the place. 

6. They shall have back the eye as soon as they direct you where 
to find the Nymphs. 

7. He always asked everybody to sit and drink, and partake of his 
best. Had he a crust, he would divide it ; had he a haunch, he would 
share it. 

8. Her servant arrived with her tea. If I told you she took a 
dram with it, you would be shocked. 

9. Every one around the table will have heard of it. 

10. "Well, if your honor does stay, there is good beef and carrot 
at two o'clock," says the skeptic, and closes the door on the solitary 
prisoner. 

(J?) Mention the transitive and the intransitive verbs in the above 
sentences. 

(c) Mention the auxiliary and the principal verbs in these sentences. 

(d) Mention the verbals in these sentences. 

VOICE 

151. In these two sentences — (1) "The Normans built 
great castles," (2) " Great castles were built by the Nor- 
mans " — exactly the same idea is expressed. 

Sentence (1) has as subject the word Normans, naming 
the persons performing an action, and as object the word 
castles, naming that upon which the action was directed. 
In sentence (2), on the other hand, the word castles, which 
was the object in (1), becomes the subject; and the name 
of the persons acting is placed as the object of the prepo- 
sition by in a phrase. These sentences serve to show the 
difference between the active and the passive voice. 

The active voice is that form of the verb by which the 
subject represents the agent or doer of an action. The 



104 PARTS OF SPEECH 

passive voice is that form of a transitive verb by which the 

subject names the person or thing that receives an action. 

The agent may not be expressed with the passive voice ; 

as : — 

The grate had been removed from the wide fireplace. 

152. The passive voice is made up entirely of verb 
phrases, some form of the verb be (Section 158) and a 
perfect participle; as were built, Section 151 (2), and had 
been removed in the sentence above. 

The present and past tenses have definite forms ; for 
example, " Castles are being built, or were being built!' 
These are specially useful, since the present and past 
(indefinite) tense forms often do not express action, but 
state or condition. The sentences, " The house is built" 
"The house was crowded" speak of the condition of the 
house, and really have a predicate verb with participle 
complement; but such sentences as, "The house is being 
painted" " The house was being raised" express action 
clearly and definitely. 

Exercise 

(a) Point out the active and the passive forms, and tell whether each 
expresses action or condition : — 

1. The dinner was served up in the great hall, where the Squire 
always held his Christmas banquet. 

2. As the evening was far advanced, the Squire would not permit 
us to change our traveling dress. 

3. Many of their faces had evidently originated in a Gothic age, 
and had been merely copied by later generations. 

4. I am half inclined to think that the old gentleman was himself 
somewhat tinctured with superstition. 

5. It was the belief that some wrong had been left unredressed by 
the deceased, or some treasure hidden. 



VERBS AND VERBALS 105 

6. The door suddenly flew open, and a train came trooping into 
the room, that might almost have been mistaken for a breaking-up of 
the court of Fairy. 

7. I also felt an interest in the scene, from the consideration that 
these fleeting customs were posting fast into oblivion, and that this was 
perhaps the only family in England in which they were still observed. 

8. The gray walls are discolored by damps ; the sharp touches of 
the chisel are gone from the rich tracery. 

9. Even this reminder of the olden customs is being swept away 
by the onward march of trade. 

(b) Write ten sentences having active verbs, then change them to 
passive verbs. 

(c) Give the tense of each verb in the nine sentences above. 

(d) Tell which verbs are transitive, and which are intransitive in 
the nine sentences above. 

PERSON AND NUMBER 

153. Again, the verb is inflected for person and number ; 
that is, the verb has certain forms to correspond with the 
person and number of its subject; as, "I speak;" "The 
man speaks ; " " We speak ; " " You speak" 

If the old form of the personal pronoun of the second 
person singular is used, the verb has forms answering to 
this — "thou speakest." An old form of the third person 
singular, as, " He speaketh" is also sometimes used. But 
usually the only forms of the verb indicating person and 
number are in the present tense ; the first person singular, 
" I speak" may be distinguished from the third person 
singular, " He speaks ; " and this last is different from the 
third person plural; as, "They speak ; " " Men so speak." 

These few forms are, however, very important in questions 
of correct usage ; hence, the rule is given as a general one 
that verbs agree with their subjects in person and number. 



106 PARTS OF SPEECH 

When the subject is a relative pronoun, the antecedent 
must determine the person and number. 

Exercise 
(a) Give the person and number of each verb : — 

i. He counted the moments as they passed, and beheld that his 
last sands were falling. 

2. In the garden in front of her house grew two rosebushes, one t)f 
which bore white roses and the other red. 

3. We see before us a probable train of great events. 

4. Night fell as we were walking, and the clouds, which had broken 
up in the afternoon, settled in and thickened. 

5. I saw he was speaking, but the roaring of the falls and the 
trouble of my mind prevented me from hearing. 

6. Every man looked as if a great estate had been left him. 

7. Then he began to beg : " Dear Mr. Bear, spare my life ! I will 
give you all my gold." 

8. If you would repose without disturbance, I would advise that 
you commend yourselves, during the watches of the night, to Him unto 
whom night is even as midday. 

(&) Write sentences having: (1) the verb call in the second person 
singular, present tense, definite, passive ; (2) the verb break in the 
third person singular, present perfect tense active, with subject relative 
pronoun ; (3) the verb spend, third person plural, past perfect tense 
passive; (4) the verb find, first person plural, past tense active ; (5) the 
verb write, third person singular, future tense passive. 

MOOD 

154. One other inflection remains to be spoken of, that 
of mood. The term is from a Latin word meaning manner, 
or way. As here used, mood indicates the way in which 
action or being is thought of — whether as an actual fact, 
or something commanded, or something merely supposed 
to happen under doubtful or impossible circumstances. 



VERBS AND VERBALS 10? 

There are three moods : the indicative, the imperative, 
and the subjunctive. 

155. The commonest of the moods is the indicative 

mood which expresses action or being as an actual fact. 

The expression of the fact may be in several ways : — 
(i) A simple assertion; thus, "As I passed to my room, 

I heard the sound of music in a small court. " 

(2) A question ; as, " To what purpose is all this ? " 
The indicative mood uses all the tense forms given in 

Section 149, and all the persons and numbers. 

Exercise. — Write ten sentences — six statements and four questions 
— each having a verb in the indicative mood. 

156. The imperative mood expresses a command, an en- 
treaty, or a request ; as, " Send it to the public halls ; pro- 
claim it there; let them see it." " Give me thy hand, let 
me wipe the dew from thy brow." 

As a command, request, or entreaty is addressed to a. 
person, the subject of an imperative verb is regularly of 
the second person, and so is the verb. In ordinary speech, 
the subject is not expressed ; see examples above. 

If a negative command is to be expressed, a verb phrase 
made up of the verb do and an infinitive is used with not ; 
as, "Do not go." In poetic or solemn style, however, do 
is not used ; as, " Tell me not in mournful numbers ; " 
"Lead us not into temptation." 

To take the place of an imperative verb of the first per- 
son plural or the third person, a verb phrase consisting of 
let and an infinitive is used: "Let us hear with delight;" 
" They have Moses and the prophets ; let them hear them." 



108 PARTS OF SPEECH 

These last must not be regarded as true imperatives of 
the first or the third person ; grammatically, the verb let is 
an imperative verb of the second person in each instance, 
with the subject you or thou understood. 

Imperative verbs are used only in the present tense and 
the second person, singular and plural. 

Exercise. — Write ten sentences, each having a verb in the impera- 
tive mood. 

157. The subjunctive mood does not state a fact ; it re- 
gards the action or being as something merely conceived or 
imagined; thus: (i) "I almost desired that the whole of 
life might be spent in that visionary scene." (2) " Had the 
engine run off the track, the bottomless pit would un- 
doubtedly have received us." (3) "He knew how to keep 
Christmas well. May that be said of us, and of us all! 
And God bless us, every one ! " 

In the first sentence, the verb might be spent is used to 
express a wish — a thing merely thought of, and not a fact, 
else no one would wish for it. (The verb desired is in the 
indicative mood, merely stating a fact.) 

In the second sentence, the expression, "had the engine 
run off the track " — that is, if the engine had run off the 
track — clearly implies that the engine did not run off the 
track, hence the action is merely imagined to happen. 
And since this is true, the conclusion, " the bottomless pit 
would undoubtedly have received us," cannot express a fact, 
but what is merely conceived to follow an action that we 
have seen is itself not a fact. 

In the third sentences, the verbs may be said and bless 
express wishes, and stand in independent clauses. 



VERBS AND VERBALS 



109 



The tenses of the subjunctive mood that are most often 
used are the past and past perfect, with all persons and 
both numbers. 

Exercise. — On page 135, find the sentences containing examples of 
the wish or mere supposition, and point out all the verbs that are in the 
subjunctive mood. 

158. In some cases the verbs of the subjunctive mood have 
the same form as those of the indicative, and the mood 
must be determined by the nature of the sentence. But 
some of the forms are unlike those of the indicative mood, 
as may be seen by a comparison in the following tables : — 

Verb be, indicative and subjunctive. 





PRESENT TENSE 




INDICATIVE 






SUBJUNCTIVE 


Singular 






Singular 


1. I am 




I. 


[If] I be 


2. You are 




2. 


You be 


(Thou art) 






(Thou be) 


3. He is 




3- 


Hebe 


Plural 






Plural 


1 . We are 




1. 


We be 


2. You, ye are 




2. 


You, ye be 


3. They are 




3- 


They be 




PAST 


TENSE 




Singular 






Singular 


1. I was 




I. 


[If] I were 


2. You were 




2. 


You were 


(Thou wast) 






(Thou were) 

[wert] 


3. He was 




3- 


He were 


Plural 






Plural 


1 . We were, etc. 




1. 


We were, etc. 



no 



PARTS OF SPEECH 



I. 

2. 

3- 


PRESENT PERFECT TENSE 

Singular Singular 
I have been I. [If] I have been 
You have been 2. You have been 
(Thou hast been) (Thou have been) 
He has been 3. He have been 




Plural 








Plural 


i. 


We have been, etc. 




I. 




We have been, etc. 




PAST 


PERFECT 


TENSE 





Singular Singular 

1 . I had been, etc. 1 . [If] I had been, etc. 

Note. — If is used in this table for convenience as a word intro- 
ducing the subjunctive in a dependent clause ; but this is not to imply 
that if is the only word so used, or that if is always accompanied by 
the subjunctive mood. 

As an exercise, the student should mention the points of difference 
between the indicative and subjunctive forms above. 

159. For comparative study of verb forms, the following 
examples of indicative and subjunctive moods are given: — 



Indicative 

1 . Some of the golden feathers 
were shaken out and floated down 
upon the shore. 

2. Soon he came to the wood, 
and as the horse and cart were 
turning into a path, two strange 
men came along. 

3. While the young man stood 
there, the queen bee, whose honey 
he had saved, flew in at the open 
window. 

4. The evil charm, which had 
held the castle so long, was broken, 
and all who had been turned to 
stone took their right forms. 



Subjunctive 

1 . Could we paint this picture, 
every one would exclaim with de- 
light, "Beautiful Italy!" 

2. That little chap would fill 
our pockets with gold if we could 
show him to the people in large 
towns. 

3. The people who chanced to 
be out of doors sped along r.s 
though some one were in chase of 
them. 

4. Had I not been a Raven 
I should have won her myself, 
notwithstanding my being be- 
trothed. 



VERBS AND VERBALS in 

Indicative 



5. He called to mind the little 
mice who had listened so eagerly 
to the story. 

6. The sight of three persons 1 
eyes was melted and collected into 
that single one. 

7. He was instantly made 
prisoner and pulled from his horse. 



Subjunctive 

5. He wished that he had been 
left to wither in the dark corner of 
the lumber room. 

6. What woirid my dear mother 
do, if her beloved son were turned 
into a stone? 

7. I wish I had a man to drive 
the horse and cart after me. 



Exercise. — Tell what each italicized verb expresses ; give its mood, 
tense, and subject. 

160. The third person singular of the indicative present 
adds s, as, " he chooses"; while the third person singular 
of the subjunctive present omits s, as, "(if) he choose" 

161. The common uses of the subjunctive mood, then, 

are : — 

(1) To express a wish, the subjunctive verb being in the 
principal clause ; thus : — 

1. Peace be with the heroes. 

2. The foul fiend take the curfew bell ! 

This is often expressed by a verb phrase with may ; 

thus : — 

May all the stars hang bright above thy dwelling. 

(2) To express a wish, the subjunctive verb being in the 
dependent clause, which is the object of the verb wish y or 
one of similar meaning ; for example : — 

1 . O mother dear, that thou wert here ! 

2. " I would," said Geraldine, " she were I " 

(3) To express a condition contrary to fact, the verb in 
the condition itself and that in the conclusion (main clause) 
both being in the subjunctive mood (Section 157); thus : — 



112 PARTS OF SPEECH 

If these wretches were princes, there would be thousands ready to 
offer their ministry. 

The subjunctive in the conclusion is usually made up of 
a verb phrase having the words should, would, coidd, might, 
and an infinitive. Other examples of it are : — 

1. I should have taken the poet for a very sagacious farmer of the 
old Scotch school [if I had not known him]. 

2. He would have thanked any one who had befriended him [= if 
he had befriended him]. 

Exercise. — Write nine sentences showing the uses of the subjunc- 
tive mood, three sentences for each use. 

162. Since the subjunctive forms are often the same as 
the indicative, the student should always take special care 
to notice the use of the verb as well as the form. In many 
languages the subjunctive mood has many distinct forms, 
and to understand its uses will be valuable. 

In the condition contrary to fact, the introductory if is 
often omitted, but the subjunctive use of the verb is read- 
ily seen ; as : — 

1. Were I to breathe it long, methinks it would make me ill. 

2. Had he been a little richer, almost ever so little, the whole might 
have been otherwise. 

Exercise 

(a) Give first the use, then the mood of each verb in the following 
sentences : — 

i. The Indian immediately started back, whilst the lion rose with 
a spring and leaped toward him. 

2. She thought, "I am sure grandmother would be pleased if I took 
her a bunch of fresh flowers. 11 

3. Think not man was made in vain, who has such an eternity 
reserved for him. 



VERBS AND VERBALS 1 13 

4. When she saw her grandmother, as she thought, lying in bed, 
she went right up to her. 

5. We had already stated our doubts whether direct pecuniary 
help, had it been offered, would have been accepted, or could have 
proved very effectual. 

6. "Then God bless you," said Faith with the pink ribbons, 
" and may you find all well when you come ! " 

7. If he drudges, it is with his brothers, and for his father and 
mother, whom he loves. 

8. Thine was a dangerous gift, when thou wast born — 
The gift of Beauty. Would thou hadst it not ; 
Or wert as once, awing the caitiffs vile 
That now beset thee ! 
9. If he entered an inn at midnight, after all the inmates were 
in bed, the news of his arrival circulated from the cellar to the 
garret. 

10. Oh ! raise us up, return to us again ; 

And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. 

11. It seems almost as if we were treading a mansion of that 
fabled city, where every being had been suddenly transmuted into 
stone. 

12. "Go, then, 1 ' said the stranger, " and plunge into the river that 
glides past the bottom of your garden. 1 ' 

13. In the silent afternoons, if I listened, the thump of a great 
apple was audible. 

14. Hercules would have been put to death if he had not slain the 
king of the country. 

15. It would fill a volume in an age of pamphlets were I to record 
all my observations. 

16. Many a time shall I disturb them there, and feel as if I had 
intruded among a company of silent worshipers, as they sit in Sabbath 
stillness among the tree-tops. 

17. Then Little John counted the money, and found that the bag 
held three hundred pounds in silver and gold. 

(b) Write six sentences using the indicative mood, six using the 
subjunctive, four using the imperative. 
b. & s. sen. gram. — 8 



114 PARTS OF SPEECH 

CONJUGATION 

163. Conjugation is from a Latin word meaning joining 
together, and in Latin grammar refers to the adding of 
various endings to a verb-root, or stem. 

In English, conjugation is the orderly arrangement of 
all the forms and auxiliaries that combine to express the 
various circumstances of action or being. 

The verb be has a larger number of distinct forms than 
any other verb, since its forms include several different 
root words ; as, been, are, were. 

Most of the other verbs have only four or five distinct 
forms in common use; for example, the forms of the verb 
talk are talk, talks, talking, talked ; of the verb speak, are 
speak, speaks, spoke, speaking, spoken. Besides these the 
old forms are sometimes used ; as, talkest, talketh, talkedst. 

164. Conjugation of the verb be. 

Four tenses of the indicative mood and all of the sub- 
junctive have been given (pages 109-110); the other forms 

and phrases are : — 

Indicative Mood 

future tense 
Singular Plural 

1. I shall be 1. We shall be 

2. You will be 2. You, ye will be 
(Thou wilt be) 

3. He will be 3. They will be 

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE 

Singular Plural 

1. I shall have been 1. We shall have been 

2. You will have been 2. You, ye will have been 
(Thou wilt have been) 

3. He will have been 3. They will have been 



VERBS AND VERBALS 



"5 



Imperative Mood 



Singular 
Be [you or thou] 



PRESENT TENSE 



Plural 
Be [you or ye] 



165. Synopsis of the verb speak. 

A synopsis of a verb is the orderly arrangement of the 
different moods and tenses in only one person and number. 

The third person singular will be used here, and the 
imperative mood will be added. 

Active Voice 
indicative mood 



Present, 

Present definite. 

Past, 

Past definite, 

Future, 

Future definite, 

Present perfect, 

Present perfect definite, 

Past perfect, 

Past perfect definite, 

Future perfect, 

Future perfect definite, 



He speaks. 

He is speaking. 

He spoke. 

He was speaking. 

He will speak. 

He will be speaking. 

He has spoken. 

He has been speaking. 

He had spoken. 

He had been speaking. 

He will have spoken. 

He will have been speaking. 



SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD 

Present, [If, though, etc.] He speak. 



Present definite, 

Past, 

Past definite, 

Present perfect, 

Present perfect definite, 

Past perfect, 

Past perfect definite, 



He be speaking. 

He spoke. 

He were speaking. 

He have spoken. 

He have been speaking. 

He had spoken. 

He had been speaking. 



Il6 PARTS OF SPEECH 



IMPERATIVE MOOD 

Present, Speak. (2d person.) 

Present definite, Be speaking. 

Passive Voice 
indicative mood 

Present, It is spoken. 

Present definite, It is being spoken. 

Past) It was spoken. 

Past definite, It was being spoken. 

Future, It will be spoken. 

Present perfect, It has been spoken. 

Past perfect, It had been spoken. 

Future perfect, It will have been spoken. 

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD 

Present, .[If, though, etc.] It be spoken. 

Past, It were spoken. 

Past definite, It were being spoken. 

Present perfect, It have been spoken. 

Past perfect, It had been spoken. 

IMPERATIVE MOOD 

On account of its meaning, speak has no passive impera 
tive. Of other transitive verbs, the forms are : — 

Present (2d person), Be seen, be smitten, etc. 

166. The subject he or it is merely representative; any 
singular subject of the verb may be used instead. 

In the present and past tenses active, a verb phrase con- 
sisting of do and the infinitive of any verb is used for 
emphasis, and these are called emphatic forms ; as, " I do 
speak clearly ; " " I did speak harshly." 



VERBS AND VERBALS 117 

In poetry, do and did are often merely substitutes for 
the simple forms, and are not emphatic ; as, " In our life 
alone does nature live;" " The ice did split with a 
thunder-fit." 

The use of do in the imperative has been mentioned. 

The negative forms of the present and past tenses active, 
indicative, are made up of do and did with not ; as, "He 
does not speak well ; " " They did not speak cordially." 

To ask questions, do and did are used in the same tenses, 
inverting the order, and are often called interrogative 
forms; as, "Do you know him?" " Did we intrude?" 
In other tenses the forms remain the same, and only the 
order is changed ; as, " And will your mother pity me ? " 

By combining the emphatic and interrogative forms 
with the negatives, we may form other phrases, such as, 
" I did not walk ; " " Did they not walk with you ? " 

These remarks serve to show how numerous and how 
useful verb phrases are in English, for indicating the 
different shades of meaning and circumstances of action. 

STRONG AND WEAK VERBS 

167. As to the forms of the words, verbs are divided 
into strong and weak (or old and new conjugation). 

Strong verbs are those that change the vowel, but do not 
add an ending, in forming the past tense ; thus, choose, 
chose ; blow, blew ; fling, flung. 

Weak verbs are those that add an ending -d, -ed, or -/ to 
the simple or root form of the verb in forming the past 
tense ; as, flee, fled ; tan, tanned ; buy, bought. 

Weak verbs may change the root vowel to form the past 



Ii8 



PARTS OF SPEECH 



tense ; but they add an ending to the root form, which 
strong verbs never do. 

Note. — Weak verbs also include some words that neither change 
the vowel nor add an ending : as, set, set ; cast, cast ; cost, cost ; put, 
put. Also some that drop ~d for -/ : as, send, sent ; build, built. 

168. A general description of any verb is usually given 
by means of the principal parts ; that is, the forms used as 
a basis in making up the* conjugation of the verb. They 
are the simple infinitive, the past tense, and the perfect 
participle ; for example : — 

Blow, blew, blown; come, came, come; buy, bought, 
bought ; watch, watched, watched. 

List of Strong Verbs 

169. The following table includes most of the strong 
verbs of our language : — 

Note. — Weak forms of these are placed in parentheses. 



Present. 


Past. 


Perf. Part. 


Present. 


Past. 


Perf. Part. 


abide 


abode 


abode 


break 


broke 


broken 


arise 


arose 


arisen 


chide 


chid 


chidden, 


awake 


awoke 


awoke 






chid 




(awaked) 


(awaked) 


choose 


chose 


chosen 


bear 


bore 


borne 


cleave 


clove, clave 


cloven 






born 




(cleft) 


(cleft) 


begin 


began 


begun 


cling 


clung 


clung 


behold 


beheld 


beheld 


come 


came 


come 


bid 


bade 


bidden 


crow 


crew 








bid 




(crowed) 


(crowed) 


bind 


bound 


bound 


dig 


dug 


dug 


bite 


bit 


bitten, 


do 


did 


done 






bit 


draw 


drew 


drawn 


blow 


blew 


blown 


drink 


drank 


drunk 



VERBS AND VERBALS 



119 



Present. 



Past. Perf.Part. Present. Past. Perf.Part. 



drive 


drove 


driven 


slide 


slid 


slidden 


eat 


ate, eat 


eaten 


sling 


slung 


slung 


fall 


fell 


fallen 


slink 


slunk 


slunk 


fight 


fought 


fought 


smite 


smote 


smitten 


find 


found 


found 


speak 


spoke 


spoken 


fling 


flung 


flung 


spin 


spun 


spun 


fly 


flew 


flown 


spit 


spat, spit 


spat 


forbear 


forbore 


forborne 


spring 


sprang, 


sprung 


forget 


forgot 


forgotten 




sprung 


• 


forsake 


forsook 


forsaken 


stand 


stood 


stood 


freeze 


froze 


frozen 


steal 


stole 


stolen 


get 


g ot g 


ot [gotten] 


stick 


stuck 


stuck 


give 


gave 


given 


sting 


stung 


stung 


go 


went 


gone 


stride 


strode 


stridden 


grind 


ground 


ground 


strike 


struck 


struck, 


grow 


grew 


grown 






stricken 


hang 


hung 


hung 


string 


strung 


strung 




(hanged) 


(hanged) 


strive 


strove 


striven 


hold 


held 


held 


swear 


swore 


sworn 


know 


knew 


known 


swim 


swam, 


swum 


lie 


lay 


lain 




swum 




ride 


rode 


ridden 


swing 


swung 


swung 


ring 


rang 


rung 


take 


took 


taken 


run 


ran 


run 


tear 


tore 


torn 


see 


saw 


seen 


thrive 


throve 


thriven 


shake 


shook 


shaken 




(thrived) 


(thrived) 


shear 


shore 


shorn 


throw 


threw 


thrown 




(sheared) 


(sheared) 


tread 


trod 


trodden, 


shine 


shone 


shone 






trod 


shrink 


shrank, 


shrunk 


wear 


wore 


worn 




shrunk 




weave 


wove 


woven 


sing 


sang 


sung 


win 


won 


won 


sink 


sank (sunk) sunk 


wind 


wound 


wound 


sit 


sat 


sat 


wring 


wrung 


wrung 


slay 


slew 


slain 


write 


wrote 


written 



120 



PARTS OF SPEECH 



The perfect participle got is preferable to the form 
gotten, which is not now used in the best English writing ; 
but forgotten is the correct participle of the verb forget. 

The verb hang has two forms with different meanings 
in the past tense and past participle ; hanged regularly 
refers to execution of persons by hanging, while hung 
means suspended, in speaking of other matters. 



Irregular Weak Verbs 

170. There are many weak verbs which do not add -ed 
to the root form, and these are called irregular weak verbs. 
A few of the various kinds are given below : — 



bring 


brought 


brought 


catch 


caught 


caught 


buy 


bought 


bought 


seek 


sought 


sought 


sell 


sold 


sold 


tell 


told 


told 


feel 


felt 


felt 


lose 


lost 


lost 


keep 


kept 


kept 


shoe 


shod 


shod 


bend 


bended, 


bended, 


lean 


leaned, 


leaned, 




bent 


bent 




leant 


leant 


build 


builded, 


builded, 


work 


worked, 


worked, 




built 


built 




wrought 


wrought 


have 


had 


had 


make 


made 


made 


lay 


laid 


laid 


say 


said 


said 


cast 


cast 


cast 


put 


put 


put 


cost 


cost 


cost 


set 


set 


set 



171. The perfect participle may be used alone as a 
verbal, as explained more fully in Sections 180 and 181 ; 
but it is put down in the above lists because it is used 
in so many verb phrases. The principal uses are as 
follows : — 



VERBS AND VERBALS 121 

(i) After the auxiliaries have, had, and shall have to 
form the perfect tenses active. 

(2) After the forms of the verb be to form the various 
passive phrases. 

Errors are often caused by careless or ignorant confu- 
sion of past tense and perfect participle forms ; as, He 
done, for he did ; we seen, for we saw ; you had took, for 
you had taken ; they come, for they came. 

172. Two groups of verbs need special attention because 
they are so often misused : lie and lay, sit and set. 

They are sharply different in meaning, but the slight 
similarity in form causes much confusion in the use of the 
words. The principal parts are here repeated, the imper- 
fect participle being added for further distinction : — 



lie 


lay 


lying 


lain 


lay 


laid 


laying 


laid 


sit 


sat 


sitting 


sat 


set 


set 


setting 


set 



Lie is an intransitive verb, and means to rest one's self, 
to recline ; lay is transitive, and means to place or put in 
some position; as, "The dog lies at the door; " "The box 
was laid on the deck." (This verb lie is not to be confused 
with lie, to falsify.) 

Sit is an intransitive verb, and means to rest on a seat 
of any kind; set is transitive when it means to place 
down an object. Set also has two meanings as an in- 
transitive verb : to sink down or become fixed, as, " The 
sun sets;" "His eyes set in his head;" and to express 
various motions, as, "to set out," "to set up in business," 
etc. 



122 PARTS OF SPEECH 

Exercise i 
Conjugate the following tenses as directed : — 

i. Present perfect indicative active of begin. 

2. Past tense indicative active of come. 

3. Past tense indicative active of do. 

4. Past perfect indicative active of fly. 

5. Present tense subjunctive passive of forget. 

6. Present perfect indicative passive of get. 

7. Past tense indicative active of grow. 

8. Future tense indicative passive of ring. 

9. Past perfect indicative active of sing. 

10. Present perfect indicative passive of slay. 

Exercise 2 

(a) Form sentences using the following tenses of verbs in the third 
person, singular number : — 

1 . Past tense indicative active of lie. 

2. Past tense indicative active of lay. 

3. Future tense indicative active of lie. 

4. Present perfect indicative active of lie. 

5. Past perfect indicative active of sit. 

6. Future perfect indicative active of set. 

7. Past tense subjunctive passive of set. 

8. Present perfect indicative active of sit. 

9. Past tense indicative passive of freeze. 
10. Past perfect subjunctive passive of write. 

(b) Where possible, change the forms in Exercise 2 to interrogative- 
negative-definite ; as, " Was not the cat lying on our new velvet rug?" 

(c) Where possible, change the active forms in Exercises 1 and 2 to 
passive, and the passive forms to active. 

DEFECTIVE VERBS 

173. Defective verbs are those which are lacking in one 
or more of the principal parts. 

The following list includes the important ones : — 



VERBS AND VERBALS 



123 



may 


might 


will 


can 


could 


must 


shall 


should 


ought 



write 

be writing 

be written 



would 



174, All these are used with infinitives to form verb 
phrases. Some examples of such phrases are : — 

Simple Infinitive Perfect Infinitive 

May, might 
Can, could 
Should 
Would 
Must 
Ought (to) 

For example, " You might have written to me sooner." 

Note. — As in the case of other verb phrases, the tense of a defec- 
tive-verb phrase is determined by both of its parts ; for example, might 
be writing consists of the past tense verb might and a simple infinitive, 
hence the phrase is in the past tense ; might have written consists of a 
past tense verb and the perfect infinitive have written, hence the phrase 
is in the past perfect tense. 



have written 
have been writing 
have been written 



All except ought take the pure infinitive without to. 

Since they are devoid of person and number forms, the 
mood of defective verbs must be determined from the man- 
ner of their use in the sentence. 

Exercise. — Write sentences using six such phrases as the above in 
the indicative mood, and four in the subjunctive. 

175. The regular auxiliaries to indicate future time are : 
shall with the first person, and will with the second and 
third persons, singular and plural. 

I shall write We shall write 

You will write You will write 

He will write They will write 



124 PARTS OF SPEECH 

Such a phrase as you will write is sometimes used as a 
mild form of command, under the guise of mere predicted 
action; as, "You will study this closely." 

176. But if, in addition to the idea of future action, it is 
desired to express determination, promise, or obligation, 
will is used with the first person, and shall with the second 
and third persons : — 

I will write We will write 

You shall write You shall write 

He shall write They shall write 

Exceptions 

1. If this phrase be placed in the form of a question, " Shall you 
write?" then future action only is expressed, since the answer, "I shall 
write," indicates simply future action. Hence, in framing a question 
with the second person, use the same auxiliary that is to be expressed 
in the answer. 

2. If, instead of using our own words about a person's future action, 
we use his words, we must keep the same auxiliary that he himself used. 
For example : a person says to me, " I shall go with you ; " if I myself 
predict his action, I say, u My friend will go with me ; " if I prefer to 
make an indirect quotation I say, " My friend says he shall go." 

177. Should and would follow the same rules as shall 
and willy respectively ; also, — 

(i) When would refers to past habit or custom or past 
determination, it is used with the first, second, and third 
persons; as, "The tears would run plentifully down my 
face when I made these reflections; " " I set my dog upon 
the goats, but he would not come near them." 

(2) When should means ought, it takes the first, the 
second, and the third persons; as, "I had paved with 
some square tiles; but I should not call them square." 



VERBS AND VERBALS 125 

Exercise 

(a) Tell what use shall, will, should, and would have in the following 
sentences : — 

1 . Shouldn't you like to be present at a scalping match, and see a 
fellow skinned alive? 

2. He would Carry a fowling piece on his shoulder for hours to- 
gether, trudging through woods and swamps. 

3. She says that the death of every bird which is killed in her 
ground will spoil a concert, and that she shall certainly miss him the 
next year. 

4. Tell me what your trouble is, and we will talk the matter over 
and see what can be done. 

5. Everything about the place went wrong, and would go wrong, 
in spite of him. 

6. Why, you wouldn't like to keep the child, should you — an old 
bachelor like you? 

7. The royal blood of our Saxon kings shall not be spilt while 
mine beats in my veins ; nor shall one hair fall from the head of the 
kind knave who risked himself for his master. 

8. I trust I shall remember the password. 

9. Say what we did was imprudent. Would we not do it over again ? 

10. On the last day of his life General Wolfe said he would rather 
have written Gray's Elegy than have won a battle. 

1 1 . He set off with the thought that he should be able to dress up 
and magnify to the admiration of a select circle. 

12. There was something in front of the fire that would have been 
tempting to a hungry man. 

(b) Explain the difference between the following sentences as they 
stand, and the same with the other auxiliary substituted : — 

1. Will [shall] he be allowed to join the club? 

2. You shall [will] not enter the house again. 

3. We should [would] not meet this man again if we remained 
here all day long. 

4. My opponent declared that he should [would] know the name 
of the man who hissed him. 

5. I shall [will] go: nobody will [shall] hinder me. 



126 PARTS OF SPEECH 



VERBALS 



178. A verbal is a word that in a general way expresses 
action or being, but does not assert, and cannot be used as 
a predicate. 

In the following pages the purpose is mainly to study 
such words separately, as verbals, and not in composition, 
as parts of asserting phrases. 

There are three kinds of verbals : participles, infinitives, 
and gerunds. 

179. A participle is an adjective verbal, which regularly 
belongs to a noun or to an equivalent of a noun without 
describing it. 

The forms are familiar to the pupil, since so many of the 
simple participles were seen in verb phrases ; such as, 
walking, walked, bought, driven, held, seen. 

180. The simple participles and the phrases are : — 

Active Voice 

Imperfect, Writing Perfect, Having written 

Perfect definite, Having been writing 

Passive Voice 
Imperfi, Being written Perfi, Written, having been written 

The form written, when used alone as a verbal, is always 
perfect and passive ; when used in verb phrases, it may be 
active or passive (Section 171). 

Exercise. — Write sentences using all the participles in the above table. 

181. Participles have no exact tense. The time ex- 
pressed by the imperfect participle depends on the tense 



VERBS AND VERBALS 1 27 

of the accompanying verb ; as, " He comes, bringing 
good news" (present). "He came, bringing good news" 
(past). " He will yet come, bringing good news " 
(future). 

The perfect participle has in it a vague idea of past time 
and of completed action ; as, " Having obeyed the order, 
the officer came [comes, had come, etc.] back to report." 

Exercise 

(a) Write the participles of the verbs bring, begin, set, sit, lie, lay, 
fall, see, build. 

(J?) Tell which of the italicized words below are participles and which 
are adjectives, also point out the noun or pronoun that each of them 
modifies. 

1 . A little gurgling sound ascended to the window. 

2. The man's demeanor was that of one walking under some malig- 
nant influence. 

3. Soon there emerged from under a sculptured portal the figure of 
a young girl arrayed with much taste. 

4. His patients are interesting to him only as subjects for some 
new experiment. 

5. By the shattered fountain grew the magnificent shrub, with purple 
gems clustering all over it. 

6. Having satisfied his curiosity by this investigation, he looked for 
the object of his resentment, whom he observed standing on the same 
spot, with the same composed countenance which he had exhibited upon 
the preceding day. 

7. The general came in out of breath, having been riding hard in 
pursuit of some deer. 

8. The gage having been delivered to the noble knight, he was ap- 
pointed to do this battle. 

{c) Write sentences having the participles interesting, entertaining, 
terrifying, and forsaken in the three positions that are explained and 
illustrated in Section 128. 



128 PARTS OF SPEECH 

182. An infinitive is a verbal having the simple or root 
form of a verb, and is used as a noun or as a modifier of 
some word in the sentence. 

Besides the simple infinitive, there are phrases used as 
single verbals, just as in the case of participles; but 
these infinitive phrases are always introduced by the 
root form of the verb. For example, in the sentence, 
" Stone seems to have been robbed of its weight and den- 
sity," have is the simple form of the verb, though it is com- 
pleted by the participles been and robbed in forming the 
compound infinitive. 

183. The remarks as to the tense of participles apply to 
all the verbals ; all derive their tense from that expressed 
by the verb used in connection with them. 

The infinitive forms and phrases are : — 





Active Voice 


Simple, 




[To] write 


Imperfect^ 




[To] be writing 


Perfect, 




[To] have written 


Perfect definite, 


[To] have been writing 




Passive Voice 


Simple, 




[To] be written 


Perfect, 




[To] have been written 



Exercise. — Write sentences using all the infinitives in this Section. 

184. The word to is not a necessary part of the infini- 
tive, though it is called the infinitive sign because it often 
introduces the infinitive ; hence it is printed in brackets in 
Section 183. 

The to is omitted : ( 1 ) in verb phrases with all the de- 



VERBS AND VERBALS 129 

fective verbs except ought ; (2) after the object of such 
verbs as let, feel, hear, see, and usually make and bid 
(order); (3) often after please, need, and dare. 

Examples 

1. The twilight would of itself have rendered a disguise unneces 
sary. These peasants should be restrained. 

2. Let it not be objected that he did little. He had seen George go to 
the front. 

3. You need not be surprised. The villain dared not attack me. 

185. The main uses of infinitives are as follows : — 

(1) The noun uses, which are : — 

(a) As subject, object, etc. ; as : — 

(Subject) To try by the strict rules of art would be unfair. 
(Object) The chaplain had been hoping to reinain there. 

{b) As complement of an intransitive or a transitive 
verb ; as : — 

1. His mission was to enlighten the whole people. 

2. The young gentleman had been allowed to have his own way. 

(2) The adjective use, in modifying some noun; as : — 
I found no ravenous beasts to threaten my life. 

(3) The adverbial uses : (a) to modify some adjective or 
adverb ; as : — 

1. I was afraid to lie down on the ground, not knowing but some 
wild beast might devour me. 

2. I killed a large bird that was good to eat. 

{b) To modify a verb, and express the purpose or the 
result of an action ; as : — 

(Purpose) I punish you now to guard you from greater punishment 
hereafter. 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — Q 



I30 PARTS OF SPEECH 

(Result) I also wheeled around, but only to see the treacherous 
sands gathering above her head. 

Exercise 

(a) Write the infinitives of the verbs draw, see, learn, be, think, prove, 
lose, give. 

(b) Classify the infinitives in the following sentences, and tell which 
use each has : — 

i . To be a tutor to such a pupil is absurd. 

2. The boys' friend warned the lad to be prudent. 

3. Other servants darkened the porch windows with their crisp 
heads to hear him discourse. 

4. She knew not from which she would like to part. 

5. I am not a man to be moved by a woman's tears. 

6. Let me endure the extremity of your anger. 

7. He is likely to raise a clamor loud enough to be heard over 
twenty horns and trumpets. 

8. I will keep my word to share weal or woe with thee. 

9. To have saved you is a sufficient reward. 

10. If you were to bid me jump out of yonder window, I should 
do it. 

1 1 . She happened to be going to see an old pauper. 

12. His lordship appeared to have been waiting for some one to 
bring just such news. 

(c) Write nine sentences illustrating the uses of the infinitives as 
shown in Section 185. 

186. The gerund is a verbal which has the form of a 
participle, but the use of a noun. 

It is to be distinguished, however, from the participle 
and the noun ; the participle never has the use of a noun, 
and a noun is never a verbal, since a mere naming word 
cannot have the power of governing. 

The noun has only the -ing form, while the gerund has 
five forms like the participle, which are : — 



VERBS AND VERBALS 131 

Active Voice 

Imperfect, Writing Perfect, Having written 

Perfect definite, Having been writing 

Passive Voice 
Imperfect* Being written Perfect, Having been written 

187. The uses of the gerund are here illustrated : — 

(1) As subject : — 

Madame B. asked her if sitting backwards in the carriage made 
her ill. 

(2) As object of a verb or a preposition ; as : — 

1. The Squire preferred talking loudly, scattering snuff, and patting 
his visitors' backs. 

2. The Earl had a way of 7inder standing things without speaking. 

(3) As an object while governing an object: — 

If is seldom that the miserable can help regarding their misery as 
a wrong inflicted by those who are less miserable. 

Exercise. — Write sentences using the five gerunds of the verb write ; 
also those of the verbs break, ride, and seek. 

188. There are numbers of words ending in -ing which 
not only cannot govern, but which are not even the names 
of actions ; they are only common or abstract nouns, as in 
these sentences : — 

1. He turned and looked around his dwelling. 

2. She had high veracity, delicate honor in her dealings. 

3. I think those have the least feeling who act wrong. 

4. This time of the year is considered most suitable for a wedding. 

5. A blessing is flung abroad. 

Exercise 

(a) Mention the gerunds in the following sentences, and tell which 
use each one has : — 



132 PARTS OF SPEECH 

i. The Nymphs made no difficulty about giving him the valuable 
articles that were in their custody. 

2. He was noted for preferring vicious animals. 

3. The legs were crossed, in token of the warrior's having been 
engaged in the holy war. 

4. Drinking toasts seems a point of honor with them. 

5. He was the singing master, and picked up many bright shillings 
by instructing the young folks. 

6. I want to make up with you for having been exceedingly rude to 
everybody this morning. 

7. I remember in this very room, so coaxing my father and mother 
and your grandfather. 

8. The mere starting of a nail, the yawning of a seam, might give 
him entrance. 

(&) Write sentences using gerunds as follows : three sentences with 
gerunds used as subjects and followed by objects ; the same modified 
by abverbs ; three sentences with gerunds as objects of prepositions 
and completed by objects ; three sentences with gerunds as objects of 
verbs and modified by adverbs. 

189. There have now been distinguished four kinds of 
words ending in -tng, namely : — 

(1) Nouns, merely naming an object or a quality. 

(2) Adjectives, describing something named by a noun. 

(3) Participles, referring to nouns or pronouns, but not 
directly modifying their meaning, or describing. 

(4) Gerunds, expressing action, having the power of 
governing, but used like nouns in the sentence. 

Exercise 

(a) Tell what office each -tng word has in these sentences, and what 
part of speech it is : — 

1. She was in the habit of speaking of and to him with a protecting 
air, which was infinitely diverting. 



VERBS AND VERBALS 1 33 

2. Here was a type of the beginning and the end of human pomp 
and power. 

3. He was knowing enough with all his blushing cheeks. 

4. The food would have been inviting to a hungry man if it had 
been in a different stage of cooking. 

5. The pork had been hung so as to prevent the roasting from pro- 
ceeding too rapidly. 

6. He opened the door wide to admit Dolly, but without otherwise 
returning her greeting than by moving the armchair a few inches. 

7. How easy it is for one benevolent being to diffuse pleasure all 
around him! 

8. All bears marks of the gradual dilapidations of time, which has 
something pleasing in its very decay. 

9. A marble figure of Mary is stretched upon the tomb, round which 
is an iron railing. 

10. Certain of the most authentic historians of these parts, who 
have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concern- 
ing the specter, allege that, the body of the trooper having been buried 
in the churchyard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly 
quest of his head ; and that the rushing speed with which he sometimes 
passes along the hollow 7 , is owing to his being belated. 

11. Entering the Court of the Lions, I was almost startled at behold- 
ing a turbaned Moor seated near the fountain. 

(b) Write sentences using each of the following words in as many of 
the four ways as you can : packing, understanding, painting, entertain- 
ing, being considered, having lost. 

PARSING OF VERBS AND VERBALS 

190. All the simple and compound forms given in 
Sections 164 and 165 are parsed as regular tenses of the 
verb, and none are analyzed into asserting words and 
infinitives or participles. The defective-verb phrases, as 
in Section 174, are separated into their elements, then 
the whole phrase is parsed like any simple verb. Verbals 



134 PARTS OF SPEECH 

are parsed by giving the class, the form, and the use in 
each instance. 

The order for parsing verbs is as follows : — 

(i) The class as to form, — strong or weak, — and 
principal parts. 

(2) The class as to use, — transitive or intransitive. 

(3) The voice, — active or passive. 

(4) The mood, — indicative, subjunctive, or imperative. 

(5) The tense, and whether definite or not. 

(6) The subject, person, and number. 

191. For further guidance, a model for parsing each of 
the above is now given. 

Now that she found herself belated, even the animation of a vin- 
dictive purpose could not keep her from falling. 

(1) Found: principal parts are find, found, found, hence 
it is a strong verb ; has an object, herself, hence it is transi- 
tive; represents the subject as acting, and is active voice; 
states a fact, therefore indicative mood ; expresses past 
time, and is in the past tense, indefinite; third person, 
singular number, because its subject is the pronoun she. 

(2) Could not keep is a negative verb phrase, consisting 
of the verb could, the adverb not, and the simple infinitive 
keep. As a unit, the phrase is transitive, active voice, 
indicative mood, past tense, third person, singular ; its 
subject is animation. 

(3) Belated belongs to the word herself, and is a perfect 
participle active ; has the double use of modifying the 
object herself and of being the complement of the verb 
found. 



VERBS AND VERBALS 1 35 

(4) Falling is active, imperfect in form, and is a gerund, 
since it is the object of the preposition from. 

Sentences for General Exercise 

1. There is an exquisite delight in picking up an arrow head that 
was dropped centuries ago and has never been handied since. 

2. The king made him sit at the table with him, and having heard 
from his own mouth the wonders of his history, said, " Tell me, I 
beseech you, in what I can further serve you." 

3. Many strangers come to view the battleground. 

4. Do not believe these stories ; believe nothing of me save what 
you have seen with your own eyes. 

5. We have been standing on the greensward. 

6. The brown spaniel, who had placed herself in front of him, and 
had been watching him for some time, now jumped up in impatience. 

7. God of Zion protect us ! What a dreadful sight ! 

8. After she had prostrated herself before the throne, she could 
not open her lips to thank the fairy, as she had proposed. 

9. Were I not afraid you would be offended at my request, I would 
ask you to go with me. 

10. His first intention was to hire a horse and ride home forthwith, 
for to walk so many miles without a gun in his hand was out of the 
question. 

11. He had something else to curse — his own folly. 

12. Towards this happiness he was impelled fitfully, after having 
passed weeks in which he had avoided her as the far-orT, bright-winged 
prize, that only made him spring forward, and find his chain all the 
more galling. 

13. A thrill of indefinable horror shot through his frame on per- 
ceiving that those dewy flowers were already beginning to droop ; they 
wore the aspect of things that had been lovely yesterday. 

14. He must soon, he thought, be getting near the opening at the 
Stone Pits ; he should find it out by the break in the hedgerow. 

15. About twilight on the second day she found herself entering 
Paita, without having had to swim any river in her walk. 



136 PARTS OF SPEECH 

1 6. I was employed to carry the papers after having worked in 
composing the types. 

17. If the long letters were bows, and the short letters broad 
arrows, I might know something of the matter. 

18. His gold, as he hung over it, and saw it grow, gathered his 
power of loving together. 

19. A dissertation on the book of Job — which only Job himself 
could have had the patience to read — filled at least a score of small 
thickset quartos. 

20. As they walked along, they came to a lake, on which many 
ducks were swimming. 

21. Had I not been armed in proof, the villain had marked me 
down seven times with as little compunction as if I had been a buck in 
season. 

22. May each stone in this vaulted roof find a tongue to echo that 
title into thine ear ! 

23. Could I but grapple with these horrors that hover round, as I 
have done with mortal dangers, Heaven should never say that I shrunk 
from the conflict! 

24. The elder books seemed to have been earnestly written, and 
might be conceived to have possessed warmth at some former period. 

25. When he found I would leave him, he took care to prevent my 
getting employment in the town. 

26. One morning he was disagreeably surprised by a visit from the 
professor, whom he had scarcely thought of for whole weeks, and would 
willingly have forgotten still longer. 

SYNTAX OF VERBS AND VERBALS 

192. In expressing a wish or a condition contrary to 
fact, the subjunctive form is to be regularly used, and the 
indicative is to be avoided. Examples have been given. 

193. In a narration of past events the past tense may 
be used, or the present vividly representing past time ; but 
the two should not be confused in the same sentence. 



VERBS AND VERBALS 1 37 

(Correct use) " A scuffle ensues ; a clatter is heard among 
the knives and forks of the dessert ; a glass titmbles over 
and breaks." (Incorrect) "When he is in the boat, he 
cries to the hermit, ' Shrive me, holy man/ and then he 
told his story." 

194. The general rule is, that subjects of singular mean- 
ing have the singular form of the verb, and subjects of 
plural meaning take the plural form of the verb. 

This applies also to the predicate noun, since the use 
of a plural complement after a singular verb is very awk- 
ward ; as, " Neither of the two great generals was wise and 
prudent statesmen," for "a wise and prudent statesman." 

195. Singular subject and singular verb: — 

(1) Words of singular form and singular meaning, the 
commonest form of agreement; as, " The day was clear." 

(2) Collective nouns naming the collection as a unit; as, 
"The world has likewise heard those names." 

(3) Words of plural form but singular meaning; as, 
"Physics is an important branch of education." "The 
writer tells us that ' The Visions of Mirzah ' was found at 
Grand Cairo." "There is two hundred zecchins in that 
pouch." 

(4) Two or more singular words connected by or or nor ; 
as, "The heart or the judgment or the moral sense or the 
taste is dissatisfied with this." " Not a hoof nor a wheel 
was to be heard." 

(5) Two or more singular words preceded by the adjec- 
tives each, every, no, emphasizing each subject separately; 
as, " Each pendent twig and leafy festoon was in a 
blaze." "Every change of season, every change of 



138 PARTS OF SPEECH 

weather, indeed every hour of the day produces some 
change in the magical hues." " No sophistry, no vain 
logic detains him." 

196. Plural subject and plural verb : — 

(i) Words of plural form and plural meaning; as, " These 
things follow each other by a general law." 

(2) Collective nouns thought of as naming the indi- 
viduals of the group separately ; as, " The quiet congre- 
gation of trees are fringed with foliage." "The audience 
were soon in excitement." 

(3) Two or more singular subjects connected by and, 
a separate idea being presented by each ; as, " His step 
and mien were particularly sedate and lofty. H 

But several singular subjects may take a singular verb 
if they are regarded as making up one idea; as : — 

For the best of the cheer, and the seat by the fire 
Is the undenied right of the Barefooted Friar. 

Exercise. — Write sentences to illustrate all the above points on the 
syntax of verbs. 

197. A common error in the use of the participle is the 
lack of proper connection between the participial phrase 
and the leading subject of the sentence; as, "Despair- 
ing of any hope of return, there came a large bird, an 
albatross, lighting upon the ship." 

The meaning seems to be that the large bird despaired 
of any hope of return, and the participial phrase should be 
so rewritten as to make the proper sense and connection 
with the word modified, thus : (1) "The sailors despairing, 
. . . there came," etc. ; (2) " Despairing of any hope of 
return, the sailors were surprised to see a large bird," etc. 



VERBS AND VERBALS 1 39 

198. Generally, the simple infinitive should be used to 
express the same time as an accompanying verb, and the 
perfect infinitive to express time before the action of the 
main verb ; as : — 

1 . It is gratifying to see that feeling completely aroused. He would 
have liked to spring on Dunstan. 

2. This extraordinary man is said sometimes to have given way to 
spiritual delusions. The priest seemed to have exhausted more of life 
than the Egyptian. 

This rule applies to verb phrases having simple or per- 
fect infinitives ; as, " He felt that he could drazv a magic 
circle around her." " It could not be seen that they inter- 
cepted for a moment the faint gleam athwart which they 
must have passed." 

199. But whenever the main verb is expect, wish, hope, 
intend, and the like, the simple infinitive is to be used with 
any tense of the verb to express future time ; as : — 

1. My father expects {expected, etc.] to sail for Paris to-day. 

2. They had hoped to reach the green banks of the Tagus before 
the noonday. 

According to the usage of present-day English, the 
proper relations of words are violated in such a sentence 
as this : — 

Then went the Captain with the officers, and brought them with- 
out violence ; for they feared the people, lest they should have been 
stoned. 

The proper form now is " should be stoned." 

200. In such a sentence as, " I was astonished to hear 
of him stealing the money, " the object of the preposition 
of is not the pronoun him, but the gerund stealing ; the 



140 PARTS OF SPEECH 

pronoun is intended to modify the gerund, and is usually 
found in the possessive form his. The objective form also 
is used by writers, but many condemn this as wholly in- 
correct. 

DIRECT AND INDIRECT DISCOURSE 

201. A direct quotation is a copy of the exact words 
used by a writer or a speaker; an indirect quotation is a 
report in our own words of what a w T riter or speaker said ; 
thus : — 

(Direct) : — 

"What have I done, child ? " said Priscilla, in some alarm. "Why, 
you asked them if they minded about being ugly ! " said her sister Nancy. 

(Indirect) : — 

Priscilla, in some alarm, asked what she had done. Nancy replied 
that she had asked them if they minded about being ugly. 

202. Several points of difference between direct and 
indirect discourse are to be noticed : — 

(i) Direct quotations are always indicated by quotation 
marks ; direct questions have also an interrogation point. 
The quotation, if a sentence, begins with a capital letter, 
and is separated from the main clause by a comma, some 
times by a colon (:). 

(2) Indirect quotations are united with the clause intro- 
ducing them ; they have no quotation marks or interroga- 
tion points, do not begin with a capital letter, and are not 
separated by commas or colons; as a rule, the statements 
begin with the word that, and the questions with whether 
or if or some interrogative word used in the direct ques- 
tion. 



VERBS AND VERBALS 141 

(3) The verb governing the direct quotation has no ef- 
fect on the verbs in the quotation, each having the tense 
required by the meaning ; but in the indirect quotation the 
verbs have such tenses as suit the governing verb. 

(4) The direct quotation has the same freedom with pro- 
nouns as with verbs ; the indirect quotation uses only such 
pronouns as agree with the persons in the main clause : 

(Direct): — 

" Nay, 11 said I to her with a gush of tenderness, " I rejoice at the 
wrongs which drove thee to this blessed lawsuit ! " 

(Indirect) : — 

I exclaimed to her with a gush of tenderness that /rejoiced at the 

wrongs which drove her to this blessed lawsuit ! 

Notes. — 1. If a direct quotation is included within a direct quota- 
tion, the included one has single marks; ''Why, you asked them, 'Do 
you mind about being ugly P 111 said her sister Nancy. 

2. An imperative verb is usually changed to an indicative followed 
by an infinitive. (Direct) "Bring forth the converts I 11 cried a voice. 
(Indirect) A voice ordered them to bring forth the converts. 

3. A past tense in the main clause may be followed by a present 
tense in the clause of indirect quotation, if the latter verb is intended 
to express a statement true at all times ; " King Midas began to doubt 
whether riches are the most desirable thing. 11 

Exercise 

(a) Copy the following from dictation ; change the direct quotations 
to indirect, and the indirect to direct : — 

1. "Come, 11 said I to my friend, "or I shall be tempted to make 
a theory — after which there is little hope of any man. 11 

2. Having been on speaking terms with one of those persons, I 
called him and inquired what was his business there. 

3. "Sir, 1 ' he said to me with a sad, yet mild and kindly, voice, 
" do you call yourself a pilgrim ? " 



142 PARTS OF SPEECH 

4. " Ah, 11 thought Red Riding Hood, " after this, I shall always do 
as my mother tells me, and I shall never go from the straight path 
again." 

5. Jem Rodney averred that, on coming up to him, he saw that 
Marner's eyes were set like a dead man's, and he spoke to him, and 
shook him, and his limbs were stiff. 

6. At last the king promised the soldier that if he would only call 
off the little man, he would give him a full pardon and let him marry 
his daughter. 

7. The emperor added that he hoped I should prove a useful ser- 
vant, and well deserve all the favors he had already conferred upon me. 

8. "You are to know," said his lordship to me, "that several com- 
mittees have been lately called on your account ; and it is but two 
days since his majesty came to a full resolution." 

9. The secretary added that if it had not been for the present situ- 
ation of things at court, perhaps I might not have obtained my liberty 
so soon. 

10. "I'll take the first watch," said Alan. "YouVe done well by 
me, first and last ; and I wouldn't lose you for all Appin^ 

(J?) Criticise the two sentences below : — 

1 . A policeman awoke him and asked him what was he doing there 
at that time of night ? 

2. Professor A. asked N. would he not go with him, for he needed 
some one to mount specimens for him. 



ADVERBS 

203. Some examples of adverbs are here given : — 

i. He observes how heavily the branches are weighed down. 

2. We have sought a somewhat devious track in our walk. 

3. He had resided almost entirely with the Squire. 

The words heavily, down, and entirely are used to mod- 
ify the verbs are weighed and had resided, and to tell how, 
or in what way, the action is performed ; the word some- 
what modifies the adjective devious, and tells how much, or 
in what degree ; the words how and almost modify adverbs 
already mentioned, and tell in what degree. 

Adverbs are words used to modify verbs, adjectives, and 
other adverbs. 

204. Adverbs modify also phrases and clauses that are 
used as adjectives or adverbs ; as : — 

Across the rafters were placed two boards exactly of the same size 
(phrase). 

Just as he had got halfway through the hollow, the girths of the 
saddle gave way (clause). 

Any verbal word may be modified by adverbs ; as : — 

1. The very soul seems almost rapt away (participle). 

2. He attempted to dash briskly across the bridge (infinitive). 

3. He had left the neighborhood partly in mortification at having 
been suddenly dismissed by the heiress (gerund). 

Exercise. — Write sentences with adverbs modifying the verb, predi- 
cate adjective, participle, infinitive, and gerund. 

H3 



144 PARTS OF SPEECH 

CLASSES OF ADVERBS 

205. As to their office in the sentence, adverbs may be 
simple, interrogative, or conjunctive. 

The adverbs in Section 203 are simple ; that is, they 
only modify, and have no further office in the sentence. 

Interrogative adverbs are those which modify and also 
are used to ask a question ; as, " Where is the master who 
could have taught Shakespeare ?" 

Conjunctive adverbs are those which modify and also 
help to connect clauses ; as, " As much wisdom may be 
expended on a private economy as on an empire." 

Simple Adverbs 

206. Simple adverbs are divided into five classes : — 

(1) Tijne : now, then, yesterday, to-morrow, to-day, soon, 
late, ever, never, lately, hereafter, thereupon, etc. 

(2) Place : here, there, hither, thither, hence, thence, and 
the compounds, herein, therein, elsewhere, nowhere, any- 
where else, etc. 

(3) Manner, telling how : easily, thoroughly, otherwise, 
solemnly, deeply, etc., most adverbs ending in -ly. 

These three classes modify verbs exclusively. 

(4) Degree, telling how much, and modifying adjectives 
and adverbs : so, too, as, very, almost, enough, etc. 

(5) Assertion, modifying not some single word, but a 
whole statement, and changing its meaning : probably, 
surely, perhaps, doubtless, certainly, hardly, not, etc. 

Exercise. — Write sentences having adverbs of each of the above five 
classes. 



ADVERBS 145 

207. Many of the above words change from one class to 
another, according to the meaning they express : — 

1. So died the hero (manner). 

2. So far we cannot go (degree). 

3. The plague spreads gradually but surely (manner). 

4. Surely he cannot have betrayed us (assertion) . 

Sometimes the word there > instead of being used adverbi- 
ally, merely introduces a sentence ; as, " There is a time 
for everything." 

Exercise. — Write sentences using the word then as an adverb of 
time and assertion ; so as an adverb of manner, degree, and assertion ; 
certainly as an adverb of manner and assertion ; far as an adverb of 
place and degree ; there as an adverb of place and as an introductory word. 

Interrogative Adverbs 

208. Interrogative adverbs introduce questions, and ex- 
press time, place, manner, reason, and degree. The chief 
ones are: when, where, why, and how; as, "How and 
when had the child come into the hut ? " 

Conjunctive Adverbs 

209. Conjunctive adverbs join clauses like conjunctions 
and may also be considered to modify like adverbs ; as, 
" As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined." 

Conjunctive adverbs include two sub-classes : — 

(1) Interrogative adverbs in indirect questions are con- 
junctive, since they both modify and connect; as: — 

1. He did not learn how this failed. 

2. Still no one asks why such measures are not taken. 

(2) Of certain pairs of connecting words, the first, or 
modifying word, is usually an adverb, the second a con- 
junction; such are: as ... as, so .. . that, so . . . as. 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — IO 



146 PARTS OF SPEECH 

Of the pairs as ... so and the . . . the, all are adverbs, 
but they help to connect. For example : — 

1. So brilliantly were they polished as to resemble the finest speci- 
mens of emerald. 

2. Some say we have already as good poets as any in the world. 

3. Yet the more the alchemist labored, the less hope had he of such 
an achievement. 

Note. — The is not to be called an article in the above use. 

Exercise. — Write ten sentences illustrating the use of different words 
as conjunctive adverbs, some modifying adjectives and some adverbs. 

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS 

210. Comparison is the only inflection of adverbs. 
Many words are used as adjectives and adverbs without 
change of form, and are inflected by the endings -er and 
-est ; as, high, deep, loud, wide, hard, long, etc. 

Most of the words compared irregularly as adjectives 
are used as adverbs (Section 127); but better, best, have 
the positive adverb, well ; and worse, worst, the positive, 
ill, or badly. 

Adverbs ending in -ly take the adverbs more, less and 
most, least to express the degrees of comparison ; as, more 
carefully, most carefully, least carefully. 

211. In observing the use rather than the form of adverbs, 

the student must keep in mind two things : that adverbs 

often do not end in -ly, and that very many words ending in 

-ly are adjectives. 

Exercise 

Point out the adverbs in the following sentences, and tell which kind 
each is : — 

1. It is certainly the most unexcitable and sluggish stream that ever 
loitered imperceptibly toward its eternity, the sea. 



ADVERBS 147 

2. The other Briton raised himself painfully upon his hands and 
knees and gave a ghastly stare. 

3. Our garret was an arched hall, dimly illuminated through small 
and dusty windows. ' 

4. There yet lingers with me a superstitious reverence for literature 
of all kinds. 

5. They were portly gentlemen, and now stood, with their hats off, 
in Scrooge's office. 

6. Then Nature will love him better than at any other season, and 
will take him to her bosom with a more motherly tenderness. 

7. The breeze would linger fondly around us, but since it must be 
gone it embraces us with its whole kindly heart and passes onward. 

8. The hair was curiously stirred ; and though the eyes were wide 
open, they were perfectly motionless. 

PARSING OF ADVERBS 

212. In parsing an adverb, the pupil should tell : — 

(1) The class and sub-class to which it belongs. 

(2) The degree of comparison, if it is compared. 

(3) What word or expression it modifies. 

Sentences for General Exercise 

1. Who can tell, when he sets forth to wander, whither he may be 
driven by the uncertain currents of existence, or when he may return ? 

2. But where, thought I, is the crew? 

3. Their struggle has long been over ; they have gone down amidst 
the roar of the tempest. 

4. I regret to say that these customs are daily growing more and 
more faint, being gradually worn away by time, but still more obliter- 
ated by modern fashion. 

5. His waistcoat is commonly of some bright color, striped, and his 
smallclothes extend far below the knees, to meet a pair of jockey boots 
which reach about halfway up his legs. 

6. The kitchen w r as hung round with copper and tin vessels highly 
polished, and decorated here and there with a Christmas green. 



148 PARTS OF SPEECH 

7. He regrets sometimes that he had not been born a few centuries 
earlier. 

8. So intent were the servants upon their sports that we had to ring 
repeatedly. 

9. Supper was announced shortly after our arrival. 

10. Though he was ostensibly a resident of the village, he was oftener 
to be found in the Squire's kitchen. 

11. The princess's attendants were much surprised, but they im- 
mediately prepared to obey her commands. 

12. As soon as the sultan arrived, Prince Houssain, as the eldest, 
took his bow and arrow, and shot first. 

13. As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength of the 
enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain strength of the temp- 
tation we resist. 

14. Why should he assume these faults? 

15. His sixty cords of wood had probably dwindled to a far less 
ample supply. 

16. He is driven to entertain himself alone and acquire habits of 
self-help; and thus, like the wounded oyster, he mends his shell with 
pearl. 

17. It was because he dug deep that he was able to pile high. 

18. In his manners he was perfectly friendly, but so silent that he 
would often sit at the head of his table, and leave it without uttering a 
word. 

19. The London people often wondered why he traveled with only 
one servant. 

20. This clever woman tired of most things and people sooner or 
later. 

21. How far had this pretty intrigue gone, was now the question. 

22. It is remarkable that the longer Bacon lived the stronger this 
feeling became. 

SYNTAX OF ADVERBS 

213. Adverbs and adverbial expressions should be so 
placed that no one can doubt which words they modify. 
In the sentence, " Her injuries were so serious that she 



ADVERBS I49 

was expected to die for a long time/' the phrase for a long 
time is at the first glance taken to be a modifier of to die. 
To save trouble and error, the writer should have placed 
the phrase after that — " that for a long time she was," 
etc. 

In the sentence, " I scarcely ever expect to have such a 
pleasure," the ever belongs to the infinitive, and should be 
placed before it — "I scarcely expect ever to have," etc. 
The words even, merely, only, almost, nearly, etc., are often 
misplaced. 

214. In English of the present day, two negative words 
are equivalent to an affirmative. " I never have no luck " 
means "I have luck always." If the purpose is to make 
an affirmative statement, two negatives or none may be 
used ; if a negative is intended, only one negative should 
be used. 

Not, never, no, none, nor, neither, nowhere, nobody, etc., 
are the commonest negatives ; but such adverbs as hardly, 
scarcely, and but have a negative meaning. 

215. Errors are frequently made, especially in the predi- 
cate, by the improper use of adjectives for adverbs, or of 
adverbs for adjectives. 

In the sentence, "The child had never looked so 
sweetly," the meaning intended is, The child never had 
been so sweet in its appearance ; a quality of the subject 
is to be expressed, and the adjective sweet is the word 
needed. 

In the sentence, "The silk was sent direct to me," the 
purpose is to describe the manner of sending, and the 
adverb directly is the word to use. 



150 PARTS OF SPEECH 

In general, if the purpose is to limit in some way the 
action of the verb, an adverb should be used ; if the pur- 
pose is to express some quality or condition of the subject, 
an adjective is to be used. 

The words most frequently misused are real, most, near, 
good, previous, for really (or very), almost, nearly, well, 
and previously. 

Exercise. — Write five sentences in which the words feel, appear, 
smell, cook, grow, shall have adjective complements, and five in which 
they shall be modified by adverbs. 



CONJUNCTIONS 

216. Conjunctions are words used for joining words, 
phrases, clauses, and sentences. 

(i) Words; as, " I seek the Vatican and the palace." 

(2) Phrases ; as, " With his will or against his will, he 
draws his portrait." 

(3) Clauses: (a) independent, "Always pay; for first 
or last you must pay your entire debt ; " (b) independent 
and dependent, "Make hay while the sun shines." 

(4) Sentences ; as, " It has overflowed stone fences and 
even rendered a portion of the highway navigable for 
boats. The waters, however, are gradually subsiding." 

CLASSES OF CONJUNCTIONS 

217. Conjunctions are divided into two general classes : 
coordinate and subordinate. 

Coordinate conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses 
of equal rank; that is, in the same construction, as (1), 
(2), (3) (a), above. Subordinate conjunctions introduce 
clauses that are subordinate to those with which they 
are joined, as Section 216 (3) (b). 

Coordinate conjunctions are of four kinds: (1) those 
that couple, or join expressions in the same line of 
thought; as, and, also, moreover; (2) those that join 
expressions in opposition, or contrast ; as, but, yet, how- 
ever ; (3) those that indicate a choice, usually between 

151 



152 PARTS OF SPEECH 

two things; as, either . . . or, neither . . . nor ; (4) those 
that express consequence or conclusion ; as, therefore, so, 
accordingly. 

The following sentences show the use of some of the 
coordinate conjunctions of each class: — 

1 I had no one to speak to or help me, but there were no wild 
beasts or savage men to kill or hurt me. 

2. The portrait responded not ; so I sought an answer for myself. 

3. Strangers may present themselves at any hour and in whatever 
number. 

4. This was a very slow way and very wasteful, for I could make 
only one board out of a whole tree. 

5. We have seen or heard of many extraordinary young men who 
never ripened, or whose performance in actual life was not extraordinary. 

6. It might indeed sharpen and invigorate the minds of those who 
devoted themselves to it ; and so might the disputes of the orthodox 
Lilliputians and the heretical Blefuscudians about the big ends and the 
little ends of eggs. But such disputes could add nothing to the stock 
of knowledge. The human mind, accordingly, instead of marching, 
merely marked time. 

7. It was the fiercest face that ever was seen, yet with a fearful and 
savage kind of beauty in it. 

8. Neither the travelers nor their steeds were visible. 

9. He had never felt so lonely and dismal. He was, moreover, 
approaching the very spot. 

10. Their business is not to check, but to act. The very same 
things, therefore, which are the virtues of Parliaments may be vices in 
Cabinets. 

Exercise 

(a) To which class of coordinate conjunctions does each conjunc- 
tion in these ten sentences belong? 

(b) Tell what each conjunction connects in the ten sentences above. 
(V) Write eight sentences, using two words of each class of coordi- 
nate conjunctions. 



CONJUNCTIONS 1 53 

(d) Write sentences containing coordinate conjunctions connecting 
(1) two noun clauses. (2) two adjective clauses, (3) two subjects, 
(4) two objects, (5) two predicate adjectives, (6) two adjective 
phrases, (7) two adverb phrases, (8) two adverbs modifying the same 
verb, (9) two verbs having the same subject and object. 

Compound Sentences 

218. Sentences that contain two independent clauses 
are known as compound sentences. Many examples have 
been given in the sentences above. The compound sen- 
tence may have more than two independent clauses, and 
also dependent clauses ; the main point to notice is, that 
it must have at least two independent clauses. 

219. Observe the following sentences : — 

1. I do not know when the boat will arrive. 

2. The hour when the boat arrives has passed. 

3. I will meet you when the boat arrives. 

In Section 97 the pupil learned to distinguish the noun 
clause from the adjective clause; in sentences (1) and (2) 
above, the conjunction when introduces a noun clause and 
an adjective clause. 

In sentence (3), the conjunction when introduces a clause 
used to modify the verb will meet and to answer the ques- 
tion, At what time ? Hence, the clause introduced by when 
is called an adverbial clause. 

From this we see that some words may introduce several 
kinds of clauses ; and that the kind of clause must be 
determined by its use in the sentence. 

Exercises 

1. Write three sentences using where to introduce a noun clause, an 
adjective clause, and an adverbial clause. 



154 



PARTS OF SPEECH 



2. Write a complex sentence having two dependent clauses intro- 
duced by how. 

220. Subordinate conjunctions are of several kinds : 
those of time, place, manner, cause or reason, comparison, 
purpose, result, condition and concession, and substantive. 

The following list contains most of the subordinate 
conjunctions : — 



after 


how 


that 1 


whence 


as 1 


if 


though 


where 


as if 


in order that 


till 


wherever 


as though 


since x 


until 


while 


because 


so that 


unless 


whither 


before 


than 


when 


why 



Exercise 

(a) Learn the above subordinate conjunctions, and tell what each one 
expresses — - whether time, place, etc. 

(b) The following sentences show the various uses of subordinate 
conjunctions. Write the sentences from the teacher's dictation, and 
tell the exact use of each italicized word : — 

i. This is perhaps the reason why we seldom hear of ghosts. 

2. They passed on through the forest, where no church had ever 
been gathered. 

3. He knew more about the matter than he chose to tell. 

4. We know truth when we see it. 

5. His spirits rose with eating and drinking as some men's do 
with drink. 

6. He distributed beef and ale and bread among the poor, that 
they might make merry. 

7. As he was a bachelor, and in nobody's debt, nobody troubled 
about him. 

8. If left to himself, he would have whistled away life in perfect 
contentment. 

1 See Section 221. 



CONJUNCTIONS 155 

9. His instrument was as old and battered as himself. 

10. She felt that it was a very hard trial for the poor weaver. 

11. The Squire, though he was not superstitious himself, was fond 
of seeing others so. 

(c) Write sentences using all the subordinate conjunctions in the 
list (Section 220). 

(d) Write sentences with the conjunction why introducing an adjec- 
tive clause and a noun clause ; that and if introducing noun and 
adverbial clauses. 

221. The above sentences have some words used as 
several kinds of conjunctions. As some of them get their 
meaning from that of the accompanying clause, one must 
examine the meaning of the whole dependent clause in 
order to classify a given conjunction. That may indicate 
purpose, result, and introduce a noun clause ; since may 
express time and reason ; as may express time, manner, 
reason, comparison, and result. Some of the words in the 
list may be used as prepositions and simple adverbs also. 

Exercise 

Tell what kind of conjunctions that, as, and since are in the follow- 
ing sentences : — 

1. That all this might not be too onerous on the purses of his 
rustic patrons, he had various ways of rendering himself useful and 
agreeable. 

2. I stated my reasons so fully as to convince him that I was not so 
much in the wrong. 

3. Wasting time is the greatest prodigality, since lost time is never 
found again. 

4. So tenacious was he on this point, that the poor sexton was 
obliged to strip down most of the trophies of his taste. 

5. He has also sorted a choir as he sorted my father's pack of 
hounds. 



156 PARTS OF SPEECH 

6. It was but the rubbing of one huge bough upon another, as they 
were swayed by the breeze. 

7. I observed that he exercised rather a mischievous sway with his 
wand. 

8. It was now a twelvemonth since the funeral procession had 
turned from that gateway. 

9. Rip's sole domestic adherent was his dog Wolf, who was as 
much hen-pecked as his master. 

10. They could not do without him, as he was the best hand at a 
song and story in the household. 

222. Correlative connectives are those that go in pairs, 
each being needed to complete the other. Some of these 
are in the following lists : — 

(1) Two or more coordinate conjunctions : both . . . and, 
not only . . . but {but also), either . . . or, neither . . . 
nor ; as : — 

But neither climate nor poverty, neither study nor the sorrows of a 
homesick exile, could tame the desperate audacity of his spirit. 

(2) A subordinate with a coordinate conjunction : if . . . 
then, though {although) . . . yet ; as : — 

1. If the poet write a true drama, then he is Caesar, not the player 
of Caesar. 

2. Although they had various success, yet on the whole the advan- 
tage remained with the challengers. 

See also Section 209 (2). 

Exercise. — Write five sentences illustrating the use of the different 
kinds of correlatives shown above. 

PARSING OF CONJUNCTIONS 

223. In learning to parse conjunctions, it is well to note 
the fact that frequently a conjunction introduces a clause 
which is contracted ; that is, its subject and part or all of 



CONJUNCTIONS 157 

its predicate are omitted. In that case the missing part 
should be supplied in order that the meaning and connec- 
tion may be made clear. For example, in sentences already 
quoted : " His instrument was as old and battered as [he] 
himself [was]." " If [he had been] left to himself, he 
would have whistled away life." 

In parsing a conjunction, the pupil should state : — 

(1) The class and sub-class to which it belongs. 

(2) What words, phrases, etc., it connects. 

Sentences for General Exercise 

1. We are desirous, before we enter on the discussion of this 
important question, to point out a distinction. 

2. Once while Hillard and other friends sat talking with us, there 
came a rustling noise, sweeping through the very midst of the company, 
so closely as almost to brush against the chairs. 

3. It is of very much more importance that men should have food 
than that they should have pianofortes. Yet it by no means follows 
that every pianoforte maker ought to add the business of baker to his 
own ; for, if he did so, we should have worse music and worse bread. 

4. They could not have paid a more acceptable compliment to my 
abode, nor to my own qualities. 

5. When the cook got up the next morning, she went out to give 
the cows the hay, and she threw down the very bundle upon which little 
Thumb was sleeping. Before he awoke, the cow had taken him right 
into her mouth. 

6. Somewhere, not only an orator but every man should let out all 
the length of the reins. 

7. He walked along for many days, until at last he reached a wood. 
As darkness fell, he saw a light, and when he drew near, he found that 
it came from a little house in which lived an old witch. 

8. I had a glimpse of the bear as he shot into the alders, as if 
thrown by a catapult ; the kingfisher wheeled in a great rattling circle 
about the canoe before he pitched upon the old stump. 



158 PARTS OF SPEECH 

9. A little of my strength came again, and I held on to the rock 
till the wave went back. 

10. I found some water, and after taking a good drink, I climbed 
into a tree, where I fixed myself so that if I slept I should not fall 
down. 

11. Presently the castle gates opened wide, and a great array of 
men-at-arms came forth with noise and clatter. 

12. As I passed its threshold, it seemed like stepping back into the 
regions of antiquity. 

13. We step curiously and softly about, as if fearful of disturbing 
the hallowed silence of the tomb. 

14. The monuments are generally simple, for the lives of literary 
men afford no striking themes for the sculptor. 

15. My raft was now made; but it would not bear a heavy weight, 
for the pieces of wood were too light, so I set to work again. 

16. Supper was his favorite meal, because it came at his time of rev- 
elry, when his heart warmed over his gold. 

17. He turned, and tottered towards his loom, and got into the seat 
where he worked. 

18. While I was getting ready, I saw that a storm was coming, and 
that it blew from the land. 

19. The rain and darkness had got thicker, and he was glad of it; 
though it was awkward walking with both hands filled, so that it was 
as much as he could do to grasp his whip along with one of the bags. 
But when he had gone a yard, he might take his time. So he stepped 
forward into the darkness. 

SYNTAX OF CONJUNCTIONS 

224. In the use of coordinate correlatives, care should be 
taken to use the proper words in sets, and to place them in 
corresponding positions ; for example : — 

1. The assailants might introduce into the underwood whatever force 
they thought proper, not only under cover, but also without the knowl- 
edge of the defenders. 

2. Thou shalt have neither answer, nor aid, nor obedience at their 
hands. 



CONJUNCTIONS 1 59 

Usually it is best to notice what kind of expression the 
second correlative precedes, and then to make the position 
of the first correspond to that of the second. In the above 
sentences, not only and but also are followed by phrases ; 
neither, nor, nor are followed by nouns. 

The following sentence is faulty : — 

He neither exhausts himself or his hearers at each service* 
The correct writing would be : — 

He exhausts neither himself nor his hearers at each service. 

225. The word what is sometimes incorrectly used as a 
conjunction, as in the sentence: — 

I do not know but what his explanation is the best. 

What is never a subordinate conjunction; but, but that, 
or that . . . not should be used. 

It is well, however, for the student to note two types of 
correct sentences which are not to be confounded with 
that just given: — 

1 . In this he can be said to assume nothing but what he can readily 
prove. 

2. O lady, we receive but what we give. 

In 1, but is a preposition and what a relative pronoun ; 
in 2, but is an adverb and what a relative pronoun ; both 
sentences are clear, correct English. 

226. Notice carefully this sentence : — 

We can learn as much, if not more, out of school than in school. 

In making a comparison of equality, as is the conjunc- 
tion to use ; but in making a comparison of inequality, 
than should follow the comparative word. 



l6o PARTS OF SPEECH 

Hence, if a sentence has a comparison of equality and 
also one of inequality, both clauses should be so arranged 
that each conjunction may have the proper connection : — 

We can learn as much out of school as in school if not more {than 
we can learn in school]. 

227. Besides these inaccuracies, several other errors 
may be spoken of in this connection : — 

In the sense of attempt to, the proper expression is try 
to instead of try and. 

The word without is never a conjunction, but is now and 
then wrongly used instead of unless. 

The word like is not to be used as a conjunction instead 
of as y as if, or as though when a verb follows in the clause. 

The conjunction as should not be used instead of that to 
introduce a noun clause ; as, " I do not know as he shall 
have such a privilege." 

The conjunctions how and whei'e are sometimes improp- 
erly used for that, and when is used instead of a substan- 
tive word in the predicate ; as, " Abdication is when a 
ruler gives up his throne." A correct expression would 
be, " Abdication is the giving up of a throne by a ruler." 



PREPOSITIONS 

228. Prepositions connect parts of sentences, but have 
in addition the quality of expressing the relation of one 
word or expression to another; as, "His first movement 
after the shock was to work in his loom." " A weaver 
who came from nobody knows where, worked wonders 
with a bottle of brown waters." 

The word after introduces after the shock, and shows the 
relation of time between movement and shock ; in shows the 
relation of place, and connects to work and loom ; from 
expresses separation ; with, means or instrument. 

A phrase is a group of words, not containing a verb but 
used as a single modifier (see Section 273); as, after the 
shock, with a bottle. 

A preposition is a word used to introduce an adjective 
phrase or an adverbial phrase, and to express relation be- 
tween its object and the word modified. 

CLASSES OF PREPOSITIONS 

229. Prepositions may be single words or combinations 
of two or three words used as one ; as, through, by, with, 
out of, because of, by way of, in place of, etc. 

They cannot all be classified, on account of the great 
variety of relations expressed by them. The largest classes 
are those of time and place. The chief ones expressing 
time are : after, during, pending, ere, since, till, until. Some 
prepositions expressing other relations may be applied to 
time ; as, about, before, above, at, between, by, near, on. 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — II l6l 



1 62 PARTS OF SPEECH 

The prepositions of place may be divided into: (i) those 
of place where — abaft ', about, above, across, amid {amidst), 
among {amongst), around '{round), at, below, beneath, beside, 
between {betwixt), beyond, in, on, over, under {underneath), 
upon, within, without ; (2) place whither — into, through, 
throughout, to, towards, unto, up ; (3) place whence — 
down, from, away from, down from, off, out of. 

Exercise. — Write sentences having five prepositional phrases modi- 
fying nouns, and ^nq. modifying verbs. 

230. The object of a preposition may be : — 

(1) A word, noun, pronoun, adverb, gerund, etc. ; as : — 
In coming from there, he had to pass through the village. 

(2) A phrase; as : — 

Aaron had made an outwork of his mother's chair, and was peeping 
round from behind it. 

(3) A clause ; as : — 

There was no word in it that could rouse a memory of what he had 
known as religion. 

231. Some idiomatic constructions with prepositions 
may be mentioned and illustrated here : — 

The preposition sometimes follows its object when this 
is an interrogative or a relative word ; as : — 

1. Godfrey had better reason than any one else to know what his 
brother was capable of. 

2. The head was held up to see where the cunning gleam came from. 

The object of a preposition is sometimes not expressed, 
especially if it is a relative pronoun ; as : — 



PREPOSITIONS 163 

1 . There was nothing that called out his love for the strangers [whom] 
he had come amongst. 

2. The Squire was in higher spirits than [those which] we have seen 
him in at breakfast. 

After an infinitive the preposition may be used without 
an object, the same being merely implied ; as : — 

1 . This authority carried with it the right to sell you the ground to 
be buried in [in which to be buried] . 

2. When you can see your face in a table, there's nothing else to look 
for [for which to look] . 

After the words like and near, which are adjectives or 
adverbs, according to their use in the sentence, the prepo- 
sition to is usually omitted ; as : — 

1 . He must soon be getting near the Stone Pits. 

2. The feast was not to end with a single evening, like a paltry town 
entertainment. 

Some prepositions are used to complete the meaning of 
verbs and verbals, and may be considered a part of them ; 
as : — 

1. Mr. M. did not doubt that he had been listened to. 

2. There may still remain some creditors unpaid, even after all that 
I have shall have been disposed of. 

3. This caused him to be looked upon as a prodigy. 

4. Mrs. Siddons was prevailed 071 to read passages from both 
Shakespeare and Milton. 

232. Some words may be prepositions or conjunctions, 
according to use, and a few may be prepositions, conjunc- 
tions or adverbs. The use must be closely watched. For 
example : — 

1. No one but John was admitted (Preposition). 

2. I will go but you must stay (Conjunction). 

3. Tis but a little faded flower (Adverb). 



164 PARTS OF SPEECH 

Exercise 

(a) Tell the use of the italicized words below, and point out what 
part of speech each is : — 

i. Now he leads the same life as before. 

2. It was the very spot for a clergyman's residence. 

3. The wind, after blustering all day, hushes itself to rest. 

4. The timbers are green with half a century's growth of water- 
moss ; for during that length of time the tramp of horses and human 
footsteps have ceased. 

5 . The two soldiers have ever since slept peacefully. 

6. His soul was tortured by the blood stain before war had robbed 
human life of its sanctity. 

7. The old minister, before reaching his patriarchal age of ninety, 
ate the apples from this orchard. 

8. The cabbage swells to a monstrous circumference, until its am- 
bitious heart often bursts asunder. 

9. Nothing but a becoming blush betrayed the moving thoughts 
that urged themselves upon her. 

10. There were two doors, but the lower one was closed. 

11. In such weather the camp afforded but a cheerless shelter. 

12. Ducks that had been floating there since the preceding eve were 
startled at our approach. 

13. There the little girl had to stay and do the hard work from 
morning until night. 

14. An old farmer, who had been down to New York several years 
after, brought the news. 

15. Since he would not obey he was unfit to command. 

(b) Write sentences of your own, using the above italicized words in 
as many ways as they are here used. 

PARSING OF PREPOSITIONS 

233. In parsing a preposition, it is necessary only to tell 
what kind of phrase it introduces, and between what words 
it shows relation ; as : — 

At every pause in the general conversation he renewed his bantering. 



PREPOSITIONS 165 

Since at every pause modifies renewed, it is an adverbial 
phrase, and at shows the relation between renewed and 
pause; the phrase, in ... conversation, modifying pause, 
is an adjective phrase, and in shows the relation between 
pause and conversation. 

Sentences for General Exercise 

1. This attack was commenced by the ladies, but it was continued 
throughout the dinner by the fat-headed gentleman. 

2. When I returned to the drawing room, I found the company 
seated round the fire. 

3. It was said to get up from the tomb and walk the rounds of the 
churchyard in stormy nights. 

4. These tales were often laughed at by some of the sturdier among 
the rustics. 

5. Methinks I hear the question asked by my graver readers, " To 
what purpose is all this?" 

6. The approach to the Abbey through these gloomy monastic 
remains prepares the mind for its solemn contemplation. 

7. The monuments are generally simple, for the lives of literary 
men afford no striking themes for the sculptor. 

8. He has lived for them more than for himself. 

9. A flight of steps leads up to it, through a deep and gloomy but 
magnificent arch. 

10. How often did he shrink with curdling awe at the sound of his 
own steps on the frosty crust beneath his feet! 

1 1 . The place still continues under the sway of some witching power, 
that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to 
walk in a continual reverie. 

12. He seldom sent either his eyes or his thoughts beyond the 
boundaries of his own farm. 

SYNTAX OF PREPOSITIONS 

234. Certain words must be followed by special prepo- 
sitions, sometimes because of the original meaning, some- 



1 66 PARTS OF SPEECH 

times only because of customary usage. These must be 
learned gradually by observation and practice, but some 
of the important sets may be mentioned here : — ■ 

Absolve from, acquit of, bestow upon, comply with, conform to, con- 
versant with, dependent on {upon), deprive of, different from, dissent 
from, independent of, profit by, 

235. Certain words may be followed by two or more 
prepositions, with a difference in meaning ; as : — 

Agree to (a proposal) ; agree with (a person). 

Confer on or upon (bestow upon) ; confer with (talk with). 

Differ from (to be unlike in appearance or qualities) ; differ from or 
with (disagree with persons in opinions). 

Disappointed in (a thing obtained) ; disappointed of (a thing 
wished for, but not obtained). 

Taste of (food) ; taste for (art, reading, etc.). 

236. Some sets of prepositions need to be noticed, so 
that the words of each set may not be confused with each 
other ; in and into, between and among, beside and besides. 

In indicates position, rest in a place ; into indicates mo- 
tion to a place within. 

Between refers generally to two things or groups ; 
among, to more than two. 

Beside usually means near, by the side of ; besides means 
in addition to. 

237. Prepositions are often useful in helping to define 
action ; as, to hear, to hear of; to laugh, to laugh at. 
Many words lose their function as prepositions and become 
adverbs, defining the action of the verb to which they are 
attached ; as, to call away, to call but (some one), to call 
in, to call off, etc. 



INTERJECTIONS 1 67 

Words of either group are not to be used unless they 
really add to the meaning of the accompanying verb. In 
the sentences, " I do not recollect of having seen him be- 
fore,'' "The boy raised up the window," the words of and 
up are quite unnecessary. 

INTERJECTIONS 

238. Interjections are words used to indicate emotion of 
some kind. Frequently they have no particular meaning ; 
so that we cannot in some cases discover, without study- 
ing the whole sentence, what emotion is to be expressed. 
Some are merely imitative words ; as : — 

Alas I that cannot be. 

i Ha! haf quoth he. 

Bah ! don't madam me ! 

Hml you know what has happened. 

Hallo ! how do you know, Mr. Chaplain ? 

Pooh ! pooh ! stupid old man ! 

The owls have awakened the crowing cock. Tu-whit I tu-whoo I 

Many of the parts of speech, however, may be used as 
exclamations, and are not to be called interjections. They 
may be nouns used independently, or imperative verbs, or 
adverbs, etc. ; as : — 

Up I up I my friend. 

Milton ! thou shouldst be living at this hour. 

Help ! help ! sir, your honor ! 

Hush! for heaven's sake ! 

Indeed I I scarcely saw them. 



EXERCISES IN SYNTAX 



NOUNS 

239. Correct any wrong forms of nouns, and any lack 
of agreement, in these sentences : — 

i . Mathematics were his favorite study at school. 

2. Every drop of water swarms with animalculae. 

3. Those molasses are fresh from the South. 

4. Such genuses of plants are very common here. 

5. He read stories old of the knight-errants bold. 

6. Two cupsful of flour were generally used. 

7. Cross the ts carefully and dot all the is. 

8. We had to put up with many inconveniencies. 

9. The book has too many long appendixes. 

10. Court-martials were trying the two traitors. 

11. Such phenomenons cause widespread anxiety. 

(Refer to Sections 19-26.) 

240. Rewrite correctly the following sentences, and give 
reason for each correction : — 

1. We have a full line of mens 1 and boys 1 hats. 

2. Ladie^ gloves are cheap on these two counters 1 . 

3. Call at Adams 1 shop for all farmer's supplies. 

4. You have no better friends than the Smith's. 

5. I staid at my friends all the afternoon. 

6. She is fond of Colgan and Beeman^ chewing gum. 

7. We owe sixteen months interest on the note. 

8. We offer a fine stock of women and childrens 1 shoes. 

9. I have visited the Soldiers and Sailors Home. 

(Refer to Sections 32-37 and 44-45.) 

168 



PRONOUNS 169 

PRONOUNS 

Personal Pronouns 

241. Examine the following sentences, and rewrite those 
in which the pronouns are not correctly used : — 

1. Miss H. F., in a humorous recitation, told us "Mr. Brown Had 
His Hair Cut," and we were delighted to hear it. 

2. His father died the year in which he was born, and this left him 
to make his way in the world. 

3. Mr. N. told Mr. H. that his cattle were in his cornfield, and that 
he had to lose by somebody's carelessness. 

4. One grisly old wolf-dog alone had planted himself close by the 
chair of state, and occasionally ventured to solicit notice by putting his 
large, hairy head upon his knee, or pushing his nose into his hand. 

5 . The dog bit the man's foot because he stepped upon him, and it 
pained him severely afterward. 

6. At the lower end of the hall is a large otter's skin stuffed with 
hay, which the knight looks upon with great satisfaction, because it 
seems he was but nine years old when his dog killed him. 

7. The angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the 
Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand ; and when they 
arose early in the morning, they were all dead corpses. 

(Refer to Section 106.) 

242. Point out the antecedent of each pronoun in the 
following sentences, rewriting any faulty sentences : — 

1. Everybody went to see her when their children had fits. 

2. Every one I speak to vanishes as soon as they hear my voice. 

3. He is a representative of a class who have a dress, a manner, a 
language, an air, peculiar to themselves. 

4. Nor did either Bois-Guilbert or the Disinherited Knight find in 
the ranks opposed to them a champion who could be termed their un- 
questioned match. 



IJO EXERCISES IN SYNTAX 

5. Each shifted for himself, and got to the end as well, or rather as 
soon, as he could. 

6. Every one was so positive of their having seen what they pre- 
tended to see that there was no contradicting them. 

7. If a person would stop and think before they use a bad expres- 
sion, or if they should hear some low person using it, so many errors 
would not be made. 

(Refer to Sections 107 and 108.) 

243. Explain whether the construction is correct in the 
following sentences, and if not, write the sentences cor- 
rectly : — 

1. Which of you, during my absence in the city, has let your horse 
come into my yard ? 

2. One or the other of us, after making good promises to reform, 
has failed woefully to do our duty. 

3. Every one of us, in this dream, has a bait offered to the infirm 
places of his own individual will. 

4. On account of the large stock of goods now on hand, I would 
advise each one of you in the store to use your best efforts to have 
good sales. 

5. Both of my elder brothers were good managers, and gave me 
their help in increasing our property. 

6. This rural politeness is very troublesome to a man of my temper, 
who generally take the chair that is next me. 

(Refer to Section 109.) 

244. Determine whether the following sentences are 
correct, and if not, write them correctly : — 

1. Every pupil ought to have self-control if he wishes to accomplish 
anything at studying — that is, we should know when and where to hold 
our tongue. 

2. Take thou this frock and cord and march quietly out of the castle, 
leavtng me your cloak and girdle to take the long leap in thy stead. 

3. To the battlements, ye loitering villains ! to the battlements, or I 
will splinter your bones with this truncheon. 



PRONOUNS 171 

4. If one begins to use slang, it is very hard to break yourself from 
it, for you canH express yourself without it. 

5. Cover thyself with yonder ancient buckler, and show as little of 
your person at the lattice as may be. 

6. It one wrote an epitaph for his eminence [the Cardinal], one 
might be tempted into saying, etc. 

7. It is well worth one's while, even if he had no idea of buying or 
selling, to loiter through the bazaars. 

(Refer to Section no.) 

245. Tell the office of each pronoun in the following 
sentences, and write correctly the faulty sentences : — 

1. Aaron was so much wiser than she was about most things. 

2. Us old fellows may wish ourselves young to-night. 

3. It is not for such as we to sit with the rulers of the land. 

4. A less truthful man than him might have been tempted. 

5. You and me could carry the smallest ; and Aaron 'ud carry the 
rest, I know he would. 

6. Perhaps the pretty woman, not much younger than he, who is 
leaning on his arm, is more changed. 

7. We shall do very well — Eppie and me 'ull do well enough. 
(Refer to Section in.) 

246. Study the following sentences, and rewrite such of 
them as contain errors of syntax : — 

1. I remember seeing him with her and Marner going away from 
church. 

2. Let her, as well as I, taste of the tortures of the hereafter ! 

3. The rapidity with which he insisted on traveling bred several 
disputes between him and the party whom he had hired to attend him 
as a guard. 

4. God be judge between him and me ! 

5. The orders were for he and I to report at once at headquarters to 
answer for the disturbance. 

6. The deadly air of that region caused my uncle and she to remove 
immediately to this state. 



172 EXERCISES IN SYNTAX 

7. I regretted this unfortunate disagreement with my friends, and I 
tried hard to avoid ill humor. 
(Refer to Section in.) 

247. In the following sentences, mention which words 
illustrate pleonasm, and rewrite the sentences in which the 
pronouns are carelessly used : — 

1 . He that hits that rod at fivescore yards, I call him an archer fit to 
bear bow and quiver before a king. 

2. That land, too, now vanishing from my view, — what vicissitudes 
might occur in it before I should visit it again ! 

3. Ferdinand, who was then king and a most excellent ruler, he 
would not help Columbus. 

4. What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he 
give him a stone ? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent ? 

5. Godfrey, the older son, and Dunstan, the younger, a wild fellow, 
they had trouble often. 

6. One of those sensational reports that nobody knows how it was 
started or where it came from, was going the rounds last night. 

7. Ah, the good horse that was brought all the long way from 
Barbary, he takes no more care of him than if he were a wild ass's 
colt ; and the noble armor, he cares for it as little as if he had found it 
in the highway ! 

(Refer to Section 113.) 

248. Rewrite the following sentences, after explaining 
the nature of any errors : — 

1. Letter received by us and contents noted. In reply would say 
that books and supplies will be shipped at the earliest possible moment. 

2. Dear Cousin : Happy to say that can come to visit you next 
week. Will bring skates and sled, and hope you and friends will have 
a long holiday. 

3. He started for a town which he knew the circus would go to next 
but did not get more than five miles before night. 

4. Mr. H. F. and wife, who have been in Florida for the winter, 
returned this morning. 



PRONOUNS 173 

5. He went to clerk for his brother, who kept a dry goods store and 
was soon the center of attention among the merchants. 
(Refer to Section 114.) 

Interrogative and Relative Pronouns 

249. Determine the case of each interrogative and each 
relative pronoun in the following sentences, then see 
whether the right form is used : — 

1. Whom do men say that I am ? 

2. As the lady was discoursing, and held her snuff-box in her hand,, 
who should I see in the lid of it but the doctor ? 

3. We did not know who he was seeking. 

4. Ah, but who's to watch you, Dowlas ? 

5. John is a boy whom I believe is going to succeed. 

6. Who does Time gallop with ? With a thief to the gallows. 

7. A girl was leading the dog who had long golden hair and rosy 
cheeks. 

8. That is the man who I was speaking about. 

9. Who have we here, with the two negro boys ? 
10. Who could the poor lonely fellow write to ? 

(Refer to Sections in and 112.) 

General Exercise 

250. Test the following sentences ; if any are wrong, 
state why and correct them : — 

1 . By doing what the teacher wishes you show your respect for them. 

2. One should show their good breeding and courtesy at school. 

3. The ball grazed his cheek, which, though painful, is not fatal. 

4. A writer says he does not think either of the three countries are 
entitled to the credit given them. 

5. Frank S. R., brother of Dr. R., who was buried here last Thurs- 
day, and who came here to attend his brother's funeral, was reported 
dying at the Cincinnati hospital this morning from a* knife wound. 

6. The people who he came in contact with all loved him. 

7. It often leads to the ruin of one's character, and keeps him from 
having such company as he could keep if he did not use such language. 



174 EXERCISES IN SYNTAX 

8. Were I as thou, I should find myself disport and plenty out of 
the king's deer. 

9. A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty ; but a fool's wrath is 
heavier than them both. 

10. Shakespeare and Corneille was each the leading spirit of his 
age. 

1 1 . The very act of separating themselves from the rest of the world, 
to have the fuller enjoyment of each other's society, implies that they 
prefer one another to all the rest of the world. 

12. One should always be kind and obliging to his fellow pupils, and 
be ever ready to assist your teacher in any way you can. 

13. Even in glorious England there are some that carry their heads 
as proudly as the reindeer, who yet secretly have received a mark upon 
their foreheads. 

14. Already all is waiting: the mighty audience is gathered, and 
the Court is hurrying to their seats. 

(Refer to Sections 106-114.) 

ADJECTIVES 

251. Point out any errors in the following sentences, and 
write correctly the faulty sentences : — 

1. This cow was recently gored under the right foreleg, and the 
wound was smeared with tar down to her right knee, which is still on 
her. 

2. We have used every exertion to make our stock even more com- 
plete than it was before. 

3. Mr. W. played and swore, it is true, but he was no worse than 
any young man of his time. 

4. These kind of complaints are not often drawn from me. 

5. It was not very long before he became mayor of Greenville, 
which he held for three years. 

6. The fond girl thought that her father was the soberest and best 
of all the other men there. 

7. These sort of books were exceedingly popular in Dr. Johnson's 
time, but are scarcely read now. 



ARTICLES 175 

8. Here was clearly a case of aberration in a christened child, which 
demanded severe treatment. 

9. Put stress on all the most principal points. 

10. Lost. — A collie dog by a man on Saturday answering to Jim, 
with a brass collar round his neck and a muzzle. 

11. But them things are dying out, as I tell Solomon every time he 
comes around. 

11. As for the women, they were the kindest, merriest, most agree- 
able of all the ladies that he met in England. 

13. Mrs. A. L. suddenly fell dead in this county yesterday, while 
conversing with friends, aged 65 years. 

14. This dull color rendered him more invisible. 

15. Wanted. — A room by two gentlemen about thirty feet long by 
twenty feet broad. 

16. But as to popularity, Mr. M. is doubtless the most universal 
favorite among all the applicants. 

17. Lost. — Near Highgate archway, an umbrella belonging to a 
gentleman with a bent rib and a bone handle. 

18. To be disposed of, a mail phaeton, the property of a gentleman 
with a movable headpiece as good as new. 

(Refer to Sections 129-133.) 

ARTICLES 

252. Correct any of the following sentences that are 
wrong, and give reasons for each change : — 

1 . The neighborhood was one of those highly honored places which 
abound with chronicle and great men. The British and American line 
had run near it during the war. 

2. It appears to us, then, the difference between a sound and 
unsound induction does not lie in this. 

3. During that happy period, there was peace over nearly all the 
Eastern and the Western Continents. 

4. I no longer presume to connect the Greek, the Jewish, and the 
Egyptian antiquities, which are lost in a distant cloud. 

5. And here making a hasty salutation, he ran across the parade 



176 EXERCISES IN SYNTAX 

ground toward a young and elderly lady and a gentleman, who were 
now advancing. 

6. The knight and baron quitted the table, and felt in his em- 
broidered pockets, as if for money. 

(Refer to Sections 137 and 138.) 

VERBS 

253. Examine the following verbs, and correct any that 
are not suitable in form or in meaning : — 

1 . Many have mistook the reason for his action. 

2. He was not here when his brother come. 

3. Her face has always wore a sad expression. 

4. He was not discovered until this morning, after he had laid in 
the wet grass for six hours. 

5. The wind had scattered the apples around and broke some 
branches of the trees. 

6. The car had already ran off the track. 

7. I am afraid you will loose your new ball. 

8. He has set there an hour, all alone. 

9. If the hunter had clomb the tree, he could easily have gotten the 
squirrel. 

10. We ought not to have sit in the cold so long. 

11. My exercise must have been wrote badly. 

12. Can't I ever learn you to think before speaking? 

13. I seen him after he had swam the river. 

14. When they come in they were almost froze. 

15. I done better while he had me by the hand. 

16. He has not, and never will, reveal the secret. 

17. The guilt of the accused was easily proven. 

18. Hasn't the assembly bell rung for us yet? 

19. The iron was drawed out into fine wire. 

20. My cousin has just set out for his journey. 

21. He give me the money he win on the last race. 

22. He throwed the ball and run hard for the base. 

23. He might once, but he can not now, deceive us. 



VERBS 177 

24. The blacksmith shoed the horse in ten minutes. 

25. The horse thief was hung by the regulators. 

26. When I am forsook by all, Thou wilt be nigh. 

27. I might have gone sometimes the whole length of the street, and 
see nobody to direct me. 

28. The visitor has not sat here half an hour. 

29. As soon as I seen it, I knowed the coat was stole. 

30. My neighbor's wife taken pneumonia last winter. 

31. The sheet was not tore when I wrote the lesson. 

32. The Indian has slew many a white man. 

33. The dog is laying on my brother's new cap. 

34. The birds have flew away for the winter. 

35. Ten dollars had been bidden for this picture. 
(Refer to Sections 169, 171, 172.) 

254. See if shall, should, etc., are rightly used in the fol- 
lowing sentences, and correct any errors : — 

1 . The driver said he would like to go farther, but that he should 
hurry back. 

2. I will be sixteen years old next month. 

3. Shall you come to our next entertainment ? 

4. I will if my mother will permit me. 

5. They shall be sick if they play too long out in this rain. 

6. The teacher says that he will expect us to remember all the dates 
in that lesson. 

7. We will not grow as strong if we sit and read when we are in 
need of exercise. 

8. Wouldn't you prefer to sit with me ? 

9. You should not act so rudely with the child, for such treatment 
shall injure it. 

10. I shall lend you the marbles, but not one of them will you keep 
with my consent. 

(Refer to Sections 175-177.) 

255. Decide which of the following sentences are correct, 
and rewrite any incorrect ones, giving reasons : — 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — 12 



178 EXERCISES IN SYNTAX 

1. Neither Russia or Austria are ready for war, and Germany has 
nothing to gain thereby. 

2. Every one of the players in our club are bent on winning the 
game this afternoon. 

3. The immortality of the soul, the resurrection, the reunion of the 
dead, is the great principle of our creed. 

4. If I was a lord or a bishop, I would not put a fellow in my livery 
that had not a wooden leg. 

5. One of these persons was in a somewhat tarnished coat, with a 
large queue and bag. 

6. I confess that neither his hand nor mine were particularly steady. 

7. Each tree and rock and every blade of grass are distinctly imaged 
in the stream. 

8. It is melancholy to think how little that portion of the com- 
munity which is quite at ease in their circumstances, have to do, in 
a social way, with the humbler classes. 

9. A popular novel, a theater, a ballroom, makes us feel that we are 
all paupers. 

10. I am considering how each of these professions are crowded 
with multitudes seeking their livelihood. 

11. A handful of daring adventurers from a civilized nation wander to 
some savage country, and reduce the aboriginal inhabitants to bondage. 

12. Either of these, or of a myriad more, are equally good to the 
person to whom they are significant. 

13. When the boat comes near to his, he hears a great noise and 
the boat sinks ; but he and his companions were saved by the hermit. 

14. The boxing match came off, but neither of the men were very 
game or severely punished. 

15. The Red House was without that presence of the wife and 
mother which is the fountain of wholesale love and fear in parlor and 
kitchen. 

16. Her simple view of life and its comforts were only like a report 
of unknown objects. 

17. The painter, the sculptor, the composer, the epic rhapsodist, the 
orator, all partake one desire, namely to express symmetrically and 
abundantly. 



VERBS 179 

18. A number of persons was clustered together in the light of one 
of the great stained windows. 

19. Then kneeling down, to Heaven's Eternal King, 
The saint, the father, and the husband prays. 

20. The uniform habit of the academics, the square cap and the 
black gown, is adapted to the civil and even the clerical profession. 

21. But whether either of these be modern discoveries, or derived 
from old foundations, is disputed. 

22. It must be confessed that a lampoon or a satire do not carry in 
them robbery and murder. 

23. Every street, every turning in the more frequented parts of the 
city, were familiar to her. 

24. Wayland's " Elements of Political Economy " was published in 
the year 1837. 

25. Fifty head of cattle were bought to-day and will be sent abroad 
next week. 

26. The fleet were seen sailing up the channel, where it was anchored 
in safety. 

27. The increase in the number of pupils render the purchase of new 
seats necessary. 

28. Forest after forest fall under the ax, but no measure, no law, no 
effort have been made to prevent the waste. 

29. Not a feature, not a muscle, were seen to move. 

30. The mob, which rapidly advanced on the jail, were composed 
of the roughs of the city. 

31. A number of our best friends were told never to attend the 
meeting again. 

32. The number of men on the committee has been increased from 
three to five. 

33. The peasantry often goes barefooted in winter. 

34. Two thousand years of slavery to the Turk has made a coward 
of the Armenian. 

35. Either of these developments are quite possible, as the allied 
army have been pressing against every obstacle to reach the city of 
Pekin. 

(Refer to Sections 192-196.) 



l8o EXERCISES IN SYNTAX 



VERBALS 

256. Correct errors in these sentences, and give 
reasons : — 

i . On entering, the eye is astonished by the pomp of architecture 
and the elaborate beauty of sculpture. 

2. She gave him a copper farthing of Birmingham manufacture, 
being all the coin she had about her. 

3. Such things had been known as a man doing himself a mischief, 
and then setting the justice to look for the doer. 

4. I knew their cargoes were heavy, and expected every moment 
they would have gone to the bottom. 

5. The sequestered situation of the church seems always to have 
made it a favorite haunt of spirits. 

6. Being young, wealthy, good looking, and fortunate, the fashion- 
able world took him by the hand. 

7. This had been Silas's testimony, though he clutched strongly at 
the idea of the peddler being the culprit. 

8. He has beheld beds of them unfolding in due succession as the 
sunrise stole from flower to flower. 

9. Being naturally of a serious turn, my attention was directed to 
the solid advantages of a residence there. 

10. Prince John, who had expected that his own name would have 
closed the Saxon's speech, started when his brother's name was 
mentioned. 

11. The fact of her having found relief from drinking Marner's 
medicine became a matter of common talk. 

12. There is no hope of him passing the examination. 

13. It would have been worth any statesman's money to have heard 
the profound discussions. 

14. Alarmed by these reports, it was decided to evacuate the fort 
that night. 

15. Egypt would scarcely have been able to have secured her inde- 
pendence unaided. 

(Refer to Sections 197-200.) 



ADVERBS l8l 



ADVERBS 



257. Correct any errors in the following sentences, and 
state reasons for changes made : — 

i. The books haven't come yet, I don't suppose. 

2. Such phrases have been carried to an extreme, as have most all 
things. 

3. The effect is that it generally degrades any one that uses it in 
people's minds. 

4. We haven't near finished our exercise yet. 

5 . A very rough looking man put his head out and asked what I 
wanted very impatiently. 

6. He is only fitted to govern others who is capable of governing 
himself at all times. 

7. How well this man writes when he does not take any pains 
scarcely ! 

8. Rosenthal was then at Abazzio, near Trieste, where he was mak- 
ing his final preparations for his coming American tour in a delightful 
cottage that faces the Adriatic. 

9. One of the sailors, a thoughtless man, treated the albatross 
cruel, and killed it. 

10. This monument was erected to the memory of John Jinkins, 
accidentally shot, as a mark of affection by his brother. 

11. It is not improbable that the deceased came to his death by 
swallowing some drug. 

12. Such correction of a child sounds harshly. 

13. Loud talking makes the voice sound harsh. 

14. Mr. C. had always been successful in business previous to his 
coming to our city. 

15. Always speak friendly to those you meet. 

16. In times of temptation let a man stand firm. 

17. For a real good pair of shoes, or anything in that line, call on 
Allen and Brown. 

18. The exhibition will likely close next week. 

19. Immediately after the burial of his wife the other day, Mr. M. B. 



1 82 EXERCISES IN SYNTAX 

was married by the preacher who had performed the funeral service to a 
cousin of his former wife. 

20. The servant did not sweep the room good. 

21. The poor fellow can't walk hardly. 

22. The butter tastes very well, after all. 

23. Talk plainer, so we can understand you. 

24. Some people only make these errors in conversation, but most 
every one can correct them. 

25. The people heard that the king had abdicated with great aston- 
ishment. 

26. I merely mention a few of these letters. 

27. You this night mentioned a name in the halls where by nature 
and kindred it should have sounded most acceptably. 

28. Uncle has never been to Europe but once. 

29. Be careful to open the door wide. 

30. She looked around and saw with alarm that she had never been 
where she was before. 

(Refer to Sections 213-215.) 

CONJUNCTIONS 

258. Correct any errors in the following sentences, and 
give your reasons for each correction : — 

1. Mr. H. will hear a different story than that told him on his last 
visit to the East. 

2. It's a pity but what Solomon lived in our village. 

3. What it seemed really wisest for him to do was to try and soften 
his father's anger. 

4. Scarcely had we composed ourselves again than a loud scream 
aroused us. 

5. One of two things appears to us to be certain: that his project 
has either been misunderstood, or that his talents have been overrated. 

6. We were reading in the papers where the floods were disastrous 
in the Mississippi Valley. 

7. The prisoner declared he would not proceed without they prom- 
ised him better treatment. 



CONJUNCTIONS 1 83 

8. He treated the court like the king was already a prisoner in his 
hands 

9. Turning neither to the right nor to the left, he strode on with 
desperate hardihood. 

10. Though less studiously bedecked with ornament, his dress was 
as rich and his appearance far more striking than that of his companion. 

1 1 . But neither as a writer nor statesman can we allot him a very 
high place. 

12. Apposition is when one word not in the predicate explains the 
meaning of another. 

13. We worship not St. Nicholas so devoutly but what thy thirty 
zecchins may yet escape. 

14. Five men can transact business as satisfactorily, and more rap- 
idly than forty or fifty. 

15. They put her in a small room that looked like it had been used 
for a coal house. 

16. I do not know as I can tell you the story. 

17. The circumstance induced Gurth to believe both that the 
gang was strong in numbers, and that they kept regular guards about 
them. 

18. Athelstane had not only determined to deprive the Disinherited 
Knight of his powerful succor, but to make him feel the weight of his 
battle-ax. 

19. Lady Rowena could not have escaped without Cedric had come 
when he did. 

20. The liberated man now told us how he had been kept in prison 
a long time with little food and with damp and insufficient clothing. 

21. There's never a garden in all the parish but what there's endless 
waste in it. 

22. No sooner had he left the room when the flames burst forth furi- 
ously again. 

23. My prices will be found as low, if not lower, than can be found 
elsewhere in the city. 

24. He would roam around the country day after day to try and find 
any honest work. 

25. The costly charm of the old literature is that the persons speak 



1 84 EXERCISES IN SYNTAX 

simply, — speak like persons who have great good sense without know- 
ing it. 

26. The natives told us that after traveling all day that we should 
come to a large lake. 

27. Neighbors not only showed a disposition to greet Silas, but to 
take the trouble of visiting him. 

(Refer to Sections 224-227.) 

PREPOSITIONS 

259. Tell which prepositions are misused in the follow- 
ing sentences, and make needed corrections : — 

1 . Between every pause was heard the voice of the heralds exclaim- 
ing, " Fight on, brave knights ! " 

2. If she goes there, it will be a different sort of life to what she's 
been used to. 

3. The painter fell off of a high building. 

4. I cannot agree with such an offer. 

5. Do not drop your hat onto the floor. 

6. The villagers were astonished when the weaver came running in 
the room so suddenly. 

7. After I have examined into the matter, I will tell you whether 
the money is safe. 

8. My cousin and I hope that the reward will soon be divided 
among us. 

9. Can you tell me where the City Hall is at ? 

10. Gurth did not meet up with anybody until he reached the end 
of a long, dark lane. 

1 1 . He was into all this trouble to-day. 

12. When he reformed, he emptied out all the whisky barrels into 
the street. 

13. The soldiers crowded to the wall, from whence they sent down 
a cloud of arrows. 

14. Though differing in politics, there was a resemblance between 
the temper of the uncle and nephew. 

(Refer to Sections 234-237.) 



ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 

260. Analysis is the process of separating a sentence 
into its elements. 

The main matters connected with analysis have been 
' presented in the discussion of parts of speech, and it 
remains now to arrange these facts in a convenient form 
and to add a few explanations. 

CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO FORM 

261. According to the way in which a thought is ex- 
pressed sentences may be of three kinds : — 

(i) A declarative sentence is one that makes a state- 
ment ; as : — 

i . Necessity is the mother of invention. 
2. The mill stands by the little creek. 

(2) An interrogative sentence is one that asks a ques- 
tion ; as : — 

1. Who can count the stars ? 

2. Where is last year's snow ? 

(3) An imperative sentence is one that expresses a com- 
mand, an entreaty, or a request ; as : — 

1. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. 

2. Go to the ant, thou sluggard. 

(4) An exclamatory sentence is one that expresses strong 
emotion. It may be declarative, interrogative, or impera- 
tive ; as : — 

1 . How are the mighty fallen ! 

2. Strike for your altars and your fires! 

3. Oh death! Where is thy sting! 

iS 5 



1 86 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 

Exercise 

Distinguish the following sentences as declarative, inter- 
rogative, or imperative. State which are exclamatory : — 

1. Can such a man succeed ? 

2. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. 

3. Dare to be brave ! 

4. A rare old plant is the ivy green ! 

5. Come to the sunset tree ! 

6. O grave ! Where is thy victory ! 

7. Cheerfulness and content are great beautifiers. 

8. I dare do all that may become a man. 

9. Honor the light brigade, 
Noble six hundred ! 

10. Who can estimate the power of gentle influences ? 

SIMPLE SENTENCES 

262. Sentences may be simple, complex, or compound. 

263. A simple sentence is one that contains only one 
statement, command, or question. 

The simple sentence is made up of principal and subor- 
dinate elements. The principal elements are the subject 
and predicate; the subordinate elements are the objects, 
complements, modifiers, and independent words. 

264. The subject of a sentence names that of which 
something is said, and which answers the question " who? " 
or " what ? " placed before the predicate ; as : — 

The lives of our rural forefathers had a certain pathos in them. 

The expression in italics answers the question, " What 
had a pathos in them ? " and is the subject. 

The predicate is that word or expression which says 
something of the thing named by the subject. 



SIMPLE SENTENCES 1 87 

In the sentence just quoted, the expression had a certain 
pathos in them, being introduced by the verb had, declares 
something of the thing named by the subject, and hence 
is the predicate. 

265. Generally when the word " subject" is used, the 
simple subject is meant — the substantive word without 
any modifiers, as lives in the sentence on p. 186. 

The term " predicate " usually implies the simple predi- 
cate — the verb or verb phrase that does the asserting, as 
had in the sentence quoted. 

It is better, however, for the student always to give the 
complete subject and predicate before giving the simple 
subject and predicate; then the single words may readily 
be found. 

Exercise. — Write ten simple sentences, each having a subject and a 
predicate unmodified. 

266. There are two kinds of objects : direct and indirect. 
The direct object names the person or thing that directly 
receives the action of the verb or verbal ; as : — 

1. A small minority shook their heads, 

2. Nancy was capable of keeping her word to herself. 

The indirect object names the person to or for whom 
something is done. It is equivalent to a phrase introduced 
by to or for, and usually precedes a direct object; as : — 

1. I may as well tell the Squire everything. 

2. You chose to be so obliging as to give me the money. 

Exercise. — Write ten sentences, each having a direct and an indi- 
rect object. Draw one line under the direct objects, and two under the 
indirect objects. 



1 88 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 

267. The complements may belong to an intransitive or 
a transitive verb ; as : — 

1. The transaction became more complicated. 

2. He was very proud of his lithe son, whom he declared to be just 
like himself. 

A complement may also follow a verbal ; as : — 

i. (Participle) She was a good-looking woman, having her lips 
always tightly screwed. 

2. (Infinitive) He tried to make the scene easier to himself by 
rehearsal. 

3. (Gerund) He clutched strongly at the idea of the peddler's being 
the culprit. 

Exercise 

{a) Write five sentences having complements of intransitive verbs, 
and five having complements of transitive verbs. 

(b) Write sentences to illustrate complements of the participle, 
infinitive, and gerund, two sentences for each. 

268. The complement is retained when a transitive verb 
is changed from active to passive ; as : — 

When any one exposed himself, this was made evident by the 
bullet which was sent in search of him. 

When the active sentence with direct and indirect object 
is changed to passive, the indirect may become the subject 
by an idiomatic construction, the direct being retained 
with the passive verb; as: — 

He was offered the situation of brakeman. 

269. The subject or the direct object may be : — 

(1) A noun; as : — 

But beauty is never a delusion. 



SIMPLE SENTENCES 1 89 

(2) An adjective or a participle used as a noun ; as : — 

1 . Is not the past all shadow ? 

2. The grave should be surrounded by everything that might win 
the living to virtue. 

(3) A pronoun ; as : — 

I saw, and marked him well. 

(4) An infinitive ; as : — 

To turn and fly was now too late. 

(5) A gerund; as : — 

Further reading and thinking only served to make this inclination 
more decided. 

The complement may be the same kinds of words, and 
also adjectives or participles regularly used. 

Note. — In complex sentences, see Section 277. 

Exercise. — Write ten sentences using as subjects the classes of 
words in Section 269, two sentences for each use. 

270, Since the subject and the object are always sub- 
stantive words, the modifiers of these are adjectives or 
expressions used as such : — 

(1) An adjective ; as : — 

1 . It was a vast and noble room. 

2. Soon, however, he forgot these mortifying failures. 

(2) A possessive noun or pronoun ; as : — 

1 . She could hear his voice. 

2. He seemed to represent man's physical nature. 

(3) A noun in apposition ; as : — 

I had a brother-in-law, Robert Holmes, master of a sloop that traded 
between Boston and Delaware. 



IQO ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 

(4) A prepositional phrase ; as : — 

1 . The greater part of the place is in shadow. 

2. We have strange power of speech. 

(5) An infinitive phrase ; as : — 

I want breath and time to discuss the banquet. 

(6) A participial phrase, closely or loosely connected : — 

1. Overhead is a lofty dome supported by long rows of pillars. 

2. Brom Bones, sorely smitten with love and jealousy, sat brooding 
by himself in a corner. 

Note. — In complex sentences, see Section 280. 

Exercise. — Write twelve sentences, two to illustrate each kind of 
modifier in Section 270. 

271. Since the simple predicate is a verb, any modifier 
of it must be an adverb or an expression used as such : — 

( 1 ) An adverb ; as : — 

Their struggle has long been over. 

(2) An adverbial objective, — a noun expressing time, 
value, distance, measure, etc. ; as : — 

We one day descried some shapeless object floating at a distance. 

(3) An indirect object ; as : — 

I promise inyself great pleasure in informing him of the fact. 

(4) A prepositional phrase ; as : — 

They have gone down amidst the roar of the tempest. 

(5) An infinitive phrase, usually of purpose or result; 



as : 



1. Her eye hurried over the ship to catch some wished-for face. 

2. They started from their beds, to be swallowed by the waves. 



SIMPLE SENTENCES 191 

(6) A participial phrase ; as : — 

She came court esying forth, with many expressions of simple joy. 

Note. — In complex sentences, see Section 281. 

Exercise. — Write twelve sentences, two to illustrate each kind of 
modifier in Section 271. 

272. The independent elements are not a part of the 
sentence structure, though they add some meaning to it. 
Some of them are : — 

( 1 ) A noun or a pronoun of direct address ; as : — 

1. Why, my dear fellow, they are old maids, every soul of them. 

2. O ye, whom wrath consumes ! Shut up your senses. 

(2) Exclamatory words ; as: — 

1. "Horror! horror!" exclaimed I. 

2. Ah! and is that the rub ? 

3. It was not I ! never ! never ! 

(3) An infinitive phrase used loosely ; as: — 

To take familiar instances, here were the tales of Chaucer, etc. 

(4) A participial phrase used absolutely ; as : — 

His head being turned back, he passed a crook of the road. (See ' 
Section 29 (4), (c), and compare with Sections 270 (6) and 271 (6).) 

(5) Single words merely introductory ; as: — 

1. Why, here we are, all right again ! 

2. Well, what a strange man you are ! 

3. Now, are you not a little unreasonable ? 

(6) The words yes, yea, no, nay, used in answering ques- 
tions. They really stand for whole sentences, but are not 
a part of the sentence structure. 



192 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 

273. The words there and it are often used as introduc- 
tory words, to throw the subject after the verb ; as : -*— 

i. There is an emanation from the heart in genuine hospitality. 
2. ft is gratifying to see that home feeling completely aroused. 

There are three kinds of phrases, prepositional, infini- 
tive, and participial, frequently used as modifiers. 

The natural order of words is often departed from in the 
interrogative sentence, and should be restored before the 
sentence is analyzed ; as : — 

What right had I to exult in his misfortune ? [I had what right 
to exult, etc.] 

Sometimes in prose, often in poetry, the transposed order 
is preferred in an assertive sentence ; as : — 

j . Sudden had been the call upon us. 
2. Out spoke he then. 

Compound Subject, Compound Predicate, etc. 

274. Frequently in a simple sentence the writer uses 
two or more predicates to the same subject, two or more 
subjects of the same predicate, several modifiers, comple- 
ments, etc. ; but it is to be noticed that, in all such sen- 
tences as we quote below, the writers of them purposely 
combined them in single statements, and they are not to be 
expanded into compound sentences. In a compound sen^ 
tence the object is to make two or more full statements. 
(See Section 284.) 

Examples of compound elements are : — 

1. By degrees Rip's awe and apprehension subsided. (Compound 
subject.) 

2. He shook his head, shouldered the rusty firelock, and, with a heart 
full of trouble and anxiety, turned his steps homeward. (Compound 
predicate.) 



SIMPLE SENTENCES 1 93 

3. He caught his daughter and her child in his arms. (Compound 
object.) 

And so with complements, modifiers, etc. 

275. To analyze a simple sentence : — 

(1) State whether it is declarative, interrogative, or im- 
perative. 

(2) Give the complete subject and the complete predi- 
cate. 

(3) Give the simple subject, then its modifiers. 

(4) Give the simple predicate, then its objects, comple- 
ments, and modifiers. 

(5) Give the independent elements, and connectives, if 
any. 

For example, take this sentence for analysis : — - 

That night, and the following morning, came a further and a heavier 
fall of snow. 

(1) This is a simple declarative sentence. 

(2) Complete subject, a further and a heavier fall of 
snow ; complete predicate, came that night, and tJie fol- 
lowing morning. 

(3) Simple subject, fall ; modified by the adjectives, 
a further and a heavier > and the prepositional phrase, of 
snow. 

(4) Simple predicate, came ; modified by the adverbial 
objectives, that night and the following morning ; the sim- 
ple modifiers are night, modified by the adjective that, and 
morning, modified by the adjectives the and followi7ig. 

(5) The conjunction and connects the adjectives a fur- 
ther and a heavier, also the nouns night and morning. 

B. & S. SCH. GRAM. — 13 



1 94 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 



Simple Sentences for Analysis 

i . The moonbeams fell through the upper part of the casement, par- 
tially lighting up the antiquated apartment. 

2. There was a sloping lawn, a fine stream winding at the foot of it, 
and a track of park beyond, with noble clumps of trees, and herds of 
deer. 

3. He was evidently most solicitous about the musical part of the 
service, keeping his eyes fixed intently on the choir, and beating time 
with much emphasis. 

4. Through me did he become idolatrous. 

5. Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing 
A flowery band to bind us to the earth. 

6. He pointed with pleasure to the indications of good cheer reeking 
from the chimneys of the comfortable farmhouses and low thatched 
cottages. 

7. They made the times merrier and kinder and better. 

8. The great picture of the crusader and his white horse had been 
profusely decorated with greens for the occasion. 

9. Why should all virtue work in one and the same way? 

10. How truly is a kind heart a fountain of gladness, making every- 
thing in its vicinity to freshen into smiles ! 

11. The effigy was said to get up from the tomb and walk the 
rounds of the churchyard in stormy nights. 

12. One fine blue-eyed girl of about thirteen, with her flaxen hair all 
in beautiful confusion, her frock half torn off her shoulders, a complete 
picture of a romp, was the chief tormenter. 

13. The worthy Squire contemplated these fantastic sports, and this 
resurrection of his old wardrobe, with the simple relish of childish 
delight. 

14. My friend and I having stayed nearly four hours, a time quite 
sufficient to express a proper sense of the honor, we departed. 

15. There was a noble way, in former times, of saying things simply, 
and yet saying them proudly. 

16. Hail, Memory, hail! in thy exhaustless mine 
From age to age unnumbered treasures shine ! 



COMPLEX SENTENCES 1 95 

17. His varied occupations and amusements had made him well 
known throughout the neighborhood. 

18. I could only hear now and then the distant voice of the priest 
repeating the morning service. 

19. Time is ever silently turning over his pages. 

20. Never within my memory has it been my good fortune to spend 
a pleasanter evening. 

21. The ancients called beauty the flowering of virtue. 

22. She made a desperate and unhappy attempt to maintain her 
power over her two sons. 

23. God is able out of thy own evil asking to weave snares for thy 
footing. 

24. This caused me to be placed under Mr. Wilkes, the second 
master out of four. 

25. His mission was to enlighten the whole benighted people of the 
Church. 

26. And on that morning, through the grass, 
And by the steaming rills, 
We traveled merrily, to pass 
A day among the hills. 

27. His only resource on such occasions, either to drown thought or 
drive away evil spirits, was to sing. 

28. Our last midday's repast was taken under a grove of olive trees 
on the border of a rivulet. 

COMPLEX SENTENCES 

276. A complex sentence is one that has one principal 
clause and one or more dependent clauses. 

In beginning the analysis, it is best to regard the princi- 
pal clause as a simple sentence, having the dependent 
clauses as objects, complements, modifiers, etc. For ex- 
ample, in the sentence, " Whether Faith obeyed he knew 
not," he is the subject, knew not is the predicate, and the 
clause whether Faith obeyed is the object; in this clause, 



196 analysis of sentences 

Faith is the subject, obeyed 'is the predicate, and whether 'is 
a conjunction connecting the clauses. 

277. Dependent clauses are of three kinds : noun, adjec- 
tive, and adverbial clauses. 

The noun clause is one having the uses of a noun; that 
is, it may be the subject, object, etc. 
(i) Subject: — 
Whatever outrages have happened to a man may befall a man again. 

(2) Object : — 

I will receive from them not what they have, but what they are. 

(3) Complement : — 

The lessons which these observations convey is, " Be, and not seem" 

(4) Appositional term : — 

The alarm arose that the English host were coming upon them. 

(5) Object of a preposition: — 

Let them discriminate between what they re7nember and what they 
dreamed. 

Exercise. — Write ten sentences to illustrate these uses of the noun 
clause, two sentences for each use. 

But attention is called to clauses in which only the con- 
necting word is the object of a preposition. Such are 
adjective clauses ; as : — 

The upper end of the table was overshadowed by a canopy beneath 
which was a chair. 

278. A clause after introductory it and a verb may be 
taken as the logical subject, or it may be called the subject 
and the clause an appositional term ; as : — 

It seems to me that you put yourself into the power of the evil. 



COMPLEX SENTENCES 197 

A clause used as direct object may follow a passive verb 
when the indirect object is made the subject ; as : — 

I was informed by Frank Bracebridge that the parson had been a 
chum of his father's at Oxford. 

279. The word most used to introduce the noun clause 
is the conjunction that. Besides this are used the con- 
junctive adverbs, if whether, when, where, why, hoiv, and 
the pronouns who, which, and what. In most cases the 
last three are used to introduce indirect questions. 

Often the clause has no introductory word ; as : — 

It is said all martyrdojns looked mean when they were suffered. 

Especially common is the omission when a direct quota- 
tion is used as a noun clause; as : — 

" Then it is a very foolish question,' 1 said he ; 

also when the main clause is inserted between two parts of 
the dependent clause, — 

Such trifles, I truly feel, afford no solid basis for a literary reputa- 
tion. 

280. Adjective clauses always modify a substantive word, 
hence they are not divided into classes. 

The connectives introducing them are : — 

( 1 ) Relative pronouns — who, which, that ; as : — * 

He turned his eyes upon the withered face that was puckering itself 
into a smile. 

(2) Subordinate conjunctions — when, where, why, how, 
etc. ; for example : — 

At the hour when I first drew breath this plant sprang from the soil. 



198 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 

The relative pronoun is often omitted ; as : — 

Every line [that or which] we can draw in the sand has expression. 

Exercise. — Write five sentences having adjective clauses introduced 
by relative pronouns, and five introduced by subordinate conjunctions. 

281. Adverbial clauses are usually introduced by subordi- 
nate conjunctions, and a review of these may be helpful : — 

(i) Time: — 

We had not been long home when the sound of music was heard 
from a distance. 

(2) Place : — 

Wherever the English stagecoach-man may be seen, he can not be 
mistaken for one of any other craft. 

(3) Manner: — 

We were put into our bodies as afire is put into a pan to be carried 
about. 

(4) Cause or reason : — 

As it was the only monument of the kind in that part of the country, 
it had always been regarded with feelings of superstition. 

(5) Degree or comparison : — 

Nature is as truly beautiful as it is good. 

The more we told of our troubles, the more they clung to the shelter 
of their houses. 

Of two clauses introduced by the . . . the, the first is 
usually the subordinate, the words meaning "by how 
much ... by so much. ,, 

(6) Purpose : — 

That he might make his appearance in the true style of a cavalier, 
he borrowed a horse. 

(7) Result: — 

Every man should be so much an artist that he could report what 
had befallen him. 



COMPLEX SENTENCES 199 

(8) Condition : — 

If I should ever wish for a retreat, I know of none more promising 
than this little valley. 

Were I to adopt a pet idea, it would be that the great need which 
mankind labors under at this present period is — sleep ! 

(9) Concession : — 

Though he had seen many specters in his time, yet daylight put an 
end to all these evils. 

Exercise, — Illustrate the above classes of adverbial clauses by writ- 
ing two sentences for each class. 

282. A contracted clause should be completed before 

the analysis is begun ; as : — 

Often while \_T have been] picking my way along the street after a 
heavy shower, I have been scandalized, etc. 

The Hall of Fantasy is likely to endure longer than the most substan- 
tial edifice [will endure] . 

283. In analyzing a complex sentence, tell: — 

(1) Whether it is declarative, interrogative, or impera- 
tive. 

(2) Which words form the principal clause. 

(3) Analyze this clause, treating dependent clauses as 
simple modifiers, objects, complements, etc. 

(4) Classify the dependent clauses — as, adjective clause, 
noun clause used as a subject, etc., adverbial clause of time, 
etc. 

(5) Analyze each dependent clause as a simple sentence. 

Complex Sentences for Analysis 

1. People should think of these matters before they trust them- 
selves on a pleasure party 

2, There were circumstances around me which made it difficult 
to view the world precisely as it exists. 



200 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 

3. "You will think better of this by and by," said his acquaint- 
ance, composedly. 

4. Now come hints, growing more and more distinct, that the owner 
of the old house was pining for his native air. 

5. All that I had to show were these few tales and essays which 
had blossomed out like flowers in the calm summer of my heart and 
mind. 

6. When the festivity of the banquet was at its most ethereal 
point, the Clerk of the Weather was observed to steal from the table 
and thrust his head between the purple and golden curtains of one of 
the windows. 

7. There is this peculiarity in such a solitude — that the traveler 
knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the 
thick boughs overhead. 

8. But Midas knew a way to make them far more precious than 
roses had ever been before. 

9. One plant had wreathed itself round a statue, which was thus 
veiled and shrouded in a drapery of hanging foliage so happily that it 
might have served a sculptor for a study. 

10. He was trying to discover why one leaf grew in this shape and 
another in that, and wherefore such and such flowers differed in hue and 
perfume. 

11. There was one shrub, set in a marble vase in the midst of the 
pool, that bore a multitude of purple blossoms, each of which had the 
luster and richness of a gem. 

12. With all the tenderness in her manner that was so strikingly 
expressed in her words, she busied herself with such attentions as the 
plant seemed to require. 

13. The more perfect was the resemblance, the greater was the 
father's agony at beholding this golden image. 

14. He could not listen because an anthem of sin rushed loudly 
upon his ear. 

15. Soon emerged from under a sculptured portal the figure of a 
young girl arrayed with as much richness of taste as the most splendid 
of the flowers, beautiful as the day, and with a bloom so deep and vivid 
that one shade more would have been too much. 



COMPOUND SENTENCES 201 

1 6. As she came down the garden-path it was observable that she 
handled and inhaled the odor of plants which her father had most 
sedulously avoided. 

17. The elder traveler discoursed so aptly that his arguments 
seemed rather to spring up in the bosom of his auditor than to be sug- 
gested by himself. 

18. You have heard of this daughter, whom all the young men in 
Padua are wild about. 

19. They had a younger brother, whom they called stupid because 
he was so quiet and simple in his ways. 

20. They think that to be great is to possess one side of nature, — 
the sweet, without the other side, the bitter. 

21. The fiend in his own shape is less hideous than when he rages 
in the breast of man. 

22. Thou shalt be paid exactly for what thou hast done. 

23. I no longer wish to meet a good I do not earn, for example, to 
find a pot of buried gold. 

24. What we buy in a broom, a mat, a wagon, is some application 
of good sense to a common want. 

25. As soon as the princess opened her eyes, the evil charm which 
had held the castle so long, was broken. 

26. Punishment is a fruit that unsuspected ripens within the flower 
of the pleasure which concealed it. 

COMPOUND SENTENCES 

284. A compound sentence is one that has two or more 
independent, or principal clauses. 

It may include several independent clauses and any 
number of dependent clauses. It is made up of several 
sentences combined, as shown by the following examples : — 

1. He had not left his resting place; their steps on the soundless 
snow he could not hear [two simple]. 

2. She paused; she saw the dreadful wildernesses of snow which 
already she had traversed [simple and complex]. 



202 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 

3. Sleep is sometimes the secret chamber in which Death arranges 
his machinery : sleep is sometimes that deep, mysterious atmosphere in 
which the human spirit is slowly unsettling its wings for flight [two 
complex] . 

Exercise. — Write two compound sentences of each of these types. 

A review of Sections 217 and 218 will help the student 
in the study of compound sentences. 

285. Care must be taken lest a complex sentence be 
mistaken for a compound sentence; the conjunction may- 
seem to introduce an independent clause when in reality 
a subordinate conjunction is omitted, the coordinate con- 
junction then connecting two dependent clauses ; as : — 

These little old volumes impressed me as if they had been intended 
for very large ones, but [as if they~\ had been blighted at an early stage 
of their growth. 

286. The main divisions of the compound sentence are 
called members. The placing of the coordinate conjunc- 
tions or the division of the sentence by punctuation will 
usually guide one in separating the sentence into its main 
members ; as : — 

A third day came ; | and whether it was on that or on the fourth I 
do not recollect ; | but on one or the other there came a welcome gleam 
of hope [three members: 1. simple; 2. complex; 3. simple]. 

287. Compound sentences may be contracted by the 
omission of subject or predicate, or both ; as : — 

1. Yet not that storm was final, nor [was] that eclipse total. 

2. According to the popular notion, he had no crown for himself; 
consequently [he had] none to lend. 



COMPOUND SENTENCES 203 

288. Analyze a compound sentence thus: — 

(1) State whether it is declarative, interrogative, or im- 
perative. 

(2) Separate it into divisions, or members. 

(3) Analyze the simple members, as in Section 275. 

(4) Analyze the complex members, as in Section 283. 

Compound Sentences for Analysis 

1 . Wait a little, my reader ; give me time and I will tell you all. 

2. Upon that opening he spoke to my mother; and the result was 
that, within seven days from the above conversation, I found myself 
entering the university. 

3. It must have been nearly midnight ; but so slowly did I creep 
along that I heard a clock in a cottage strike four before I turned down 
the lane to Eton. 

4. And now they pause ; and the sweet voices of the choir break 
out into sweet gushes of melody : they soar aloft and warble along the 
roof, and seem to play about these lofty vaults like the pure airs of 
heaven. 

5. He did not wish, it seemed, to mortify me by an absolute re- 
fusal ; for, after a little consideration, he promised, under certain cir- 
cumstances, which he pointed out, to give his security. 

6. He had been furnished with letters of recommendation to a gen- 
tleman who might have assisted him ; but when he landed at Fort St. 
George he found that this gentleman had sailed for England. 

7. At length all is over; the redoubt has been recovered; that 
which was lost is found again, 

8. Come thou hither, my little foot page, 
Come hither to my knee ; 
Though thou art young and tender of age, 
I think thou art true to me. 
9. Painters do not like white cottages, unless a good deal weather- 
stained ; but, as the reader now understands that it is a winter night, 
his services will not be required except for the inside of the house. 



204 ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES 

10. By this rente they went ; and notwithstanding the snow lay on 
the ground, they reached their destination in safety. 

ii. No shout, it may be supposed, was ever heard; nor could a 
shout, in any case, have been heard, for the night was one of tempestu- 
ous wind. 

12. Few enough, and scattered enough, were these abbeys, so as in 
no degree to disturb the deep solitude of the region ; yet many enough 
to spread a network or awning of Christian sanctity over what else 
might have seemed a heathen wilderness. 

13. The man certainly did utter the jest, seventeen hundred and 
fifty years ago ; but who it was that he stole it from is another question. 

14. The Saxon is the aboriginal element, — the basis, and not the 
superstructure ; consequently it comprehends all the ideas which are 
natural to the heart of man. 

15. You, if you are brilliant like themselves, they will hate; you, if 
you are dull, they will despise. 

16. We will not at present go into the general question of educa- 
tion ; but will confine our remarks to the subject which is immediately 
before us. 

17. But we are pressed by heavy laws; 
And often, glad no more, 
We wear a face of joy, because 
We have been glad of yore. 

18. Other men say wise things as well as he ; only they say a good 
many foolish things, and do not know when they have spoken wisely. 

19. It had early been his amusement to torture beasts and birds; 
and when he grew up, he enjoyed with still keener relish the misery of 
his fellow-creatures. 

20. The only end of teaching is, that men may learn ; and it is idle 
to talk of the duty of teaching truth in ways which only cause men to 
cling more firmly to falsehood. 



OUTLINE FOR TEACHING 

The suggestions below are general in their nature, and may be 
changed to suit the conditions in various schools and to meet the pref- 
erences of each teacher. The main idea is to indicate a logical method 
of study that will obtain the best results. The indication of which 
weeks are to be devoted to the study of each topic is not so much to 
tie down the teacher to a set schedule as to proportion the work fairly. 
Long experience in the teaching of this subject has proved the correct- 
ness of the suggested plan, and teachers will do well to follow it with 
close attention. 

Sixth Grade, First Term 

Baskervill-Sevvell's School Grammar, to page 46 
General Directions 

1. Before going into the details of technical Grammar, a general re- 
view of the sentence — its elements and its construction — should be 
taken. All the parts have been studied here and there in the Language 
Lessons. Now they will be gathered, so as to start the pupil into Gram- 
mar with some very definite ideas of what the sentence contains, and 
how these elements are related. This review will extend through nine 
weeks, and the most careful thought possible should be put upon it. 

2. The importance of analysis, oral and written, cannot be too 
much insisted upon. It is suggested that every day, each pupil in the 
Sixth and Seventh Grades shall analyze one sentence. 

As to the manner of inspecting the work, the teacher may use either 
of two methods: (1) have several pupils read their analysis, and call 
for the other pupils' opinions ; or (2) glance rapidly at the work of every 
pupil in the class. The sentences should be such as to bear upon the 
regular text-book work, and should be varied in style so as to avoid 
monotony. 

3. Better results will be attained if no pupil is permitted to diagram 
any of his sentences. The great value of the study of Grammar is to 
train the pupil to think ; and diagramming soon deteriorates into a 
merely mechanical process, which will not benefit any child. 

4. In the exercises for analysis, parsing, classification, etc., in the 
text, do not try to use all the sentences, but choose as many as are 
needed to impress facts and principles clearly. 

205 



206 OUTLINE FOR TEACHING 

5. On almost every page of the text are exercises to be written. This 
work should all be done, in order to test whether the child has really 
mastered the principles. Moreover, the sentences should be sensible, 
having thoughts in them, not slavish imitation of the thoughts of some 
one else. If the pupil can be led to find such sentences in the pages 
of good literature, the good results will be a pleasure to the teacher. 

Detailed Directions 

1. Construction of sentences having the subject modified by an ad- 
jective (Text, pp. 10, 15, 16, 19) ; by a phrase. Repeated exercises in 
synthesis and analysis. 

2. Construction of sentences having the predicate modified by an 
adverb (pp. n, 16, 19); by a phrase (p. 12). Exercises in analysis 
and synthesis. 

3-4. Review, with daily synthesis and analysis. 

5. Sentences classified as declarative, interrogative, imperative, ex- 
clamatory (pp. 185-6). Daily exercises in writing these and in chang- 
ing from one kind to another. Also frequent reviews touching matters 
previously studied. 

6-7. Direct object and predicate noun illustrated and distinguished 
(pp. 15, 16, 17, 19). Frequent exercises in analysis and synthesis. 

8. Compound subject ; compound predicate ; compound object (p. 
192), and review of modifiers. 

9. Apposition (pp. 17-18), with subject; apposition with object, 
etc. ; predicate adjective modifying subject and direct object. Exer- 
cises as above. 

10. Review of parts of speech (pp. 8-13, 19-20). 

1 1— 1 7. Nouns, to p. 46. Written exercises in text. 
18-19. Review of nouns, with parsing, and analysis of simple 
sentences. 

Sixth Grade, Second Term 

Baskervill-Sewell's School Grammar, pp. 46-96 
General Directions 

1. Study General Directions 2, 3, and 4 on page 205. 

2. m The work this term will cover complex, as well as simple sen- 
tences ; but no complex sentence is to be introduced until the scheduled 
place, which is in the fifth week, with relative pronouns. 



OUTLINE FOR TEACHING 207 



Detailed Directions 

1. Personal pronouns. Study Sees. 50 and 54. Exercises oral and 
written to use all the forms. 

2. Personal pronouns, Sees. 63-65 ; exercises to use all the forms. 

3. Interrogative pronouns, Sees. 52 and 66-75 \ review of simple 
and interrogative sentences, predicate noun, object, etc. ; written exer- 
cises in text ; analysis and synthesis. 

4. Adjective pronouns, Sees. 53 and 98-104 ; exercises in text ; analy- 
sis and synthesis. 

5. Synthesis of complex sentences by the use of relative pronouns 
(p. 60). Develop the idea of dependent clause; of relative and ante- 
cedent. Daily exercises on who, which, that, without reference to case. 

6. Analysis under Sees. 80, 82, 84. Not full analysis, but separate 
the clauses and give the use of each, finding the word modified (the 
antecedent). 

7-8. Relative pronouns, Sees. 76-90. Exercises in text. One full 
analysis of complex sentence every day. 

9. Direct and indirect questions ; restrictive and unrestrictive clause, 
Sees. 91-94. Exercises in text. 

.10-11.. Personal pronouns finished and reviewed, Sees. 55-65. 
Written exercises and analysis daily. 

12. Review of pronouns, with parsing and analysis, pp. 80-82. 

13-16. Adjectives, omit Sees. 129-133. Exercises in text, and 
analysis. 

17. Review of adjectives, with parsing and analysis. 

18-19. Review of analysis, pronouns and adjectives in the sentences, 
PP- I 35~ I 36. 

Seventh Grade, First Term 

Baskervill-Sewell's School Grammar, pp. 96-143 
General Directions 

1. Study General Directions 2, 3, and 4 on page 205. 

2. Remember that one sentence is to be analyzed each day by each 
pupil. 

Detailed Directions 

1. Verbs and verbals distinguished; classes of verbs ; written exer- 
cises in text ; add more as needed. 



208 OUTLINE FOR TEACHING 

2. Tense forms ; daily practice on same with selected verbs ; exer- 
cises in book. 

3. Voice; person and number ; exercises in text. 
4-5. Mood. Review of mood and tense exercises. 

6. General review of verbs and analysis. Exercises on pages 1 12-1 13. 

7. Conjugation ; oral practice and written synopsis. 
8-9. Strong and weak verbs ; oral and written exercises. 

10-1 1. Defective verbs, with analysis of phrases ; shall and will ; oral 
and written exercises. 

12. General review of verbs. Exercises, pp. 125-136, and other 
selected sentences. 

13-15. Verbals, with oral and written exercises and review. 

16. Direct and indirect discourse ; exercises. 

17-19. Reviews, with analysis and parsing. 

Seventh Grade, Second Term 

Baskervill-Sewell's School Grammar, pp. 143 to end 
General Directions 

1. Study General Directions 2, 3, and 4 on page 205. 

2. Remember that one sentence is to be analyzed each day by each 
pupil. 

Detailed Directions 

1-2. Adverbs, to Sec. 213, with exercises. 

3-5. Conjunctions, Sees. 216 to 224; exercises, with special atten- 
tion to analysis, showing parts of sentences connected. Compound 
sentences made by combining simple or complex sentences. 

6. Prepositions, Sees. 228 to 234 ; regular and special construction ; 
frequent analysis to distinguish adverbs from conjunctions; also to 
determine adjective and adverbial phrases. 

7. General review of parts of speech. Selected exercises. 

8-12. Syntax. Study references to preceding pages; correct sen- 
tences by close analysis in every case. Require reasons to be clearly 
and fully given before correcting. 

13-18. Analysis finished and reviewed; daily oral and written 
exercises. 

19. Review parts of speech, with analysis. 



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INDEX 



[The numbers refer to pages.] 



A, origin of, 93. 

syntax of, 94, 175. 
Absolute nominative, 34, 54. 

punctuation of, 45. 
Absolute personal pronoun, 55. 
Absolute phrase, 34, 54, 191. 
Abstract noun, definition of, 22. 

plural of, 29. 
Active voice, distinguished from pas- 
sive, 103, 104. 
Address, direct, an independent ele- 
ment, 191. 

case of noun in, 34. 

case of pronoun in, 54. 

person in, 40. 

punctuation of noun in, 45. 
Adjective, comparison of, 86, 87. 

definition of, 10. 

demonstrative, 83, 84, 85. 

descriptive, S^, 84. 

number of, 86. 

numeral, 83, 84, 85. 

parsing of, 89. 

position of, 89. 

pronominal, 86. 

syntax of, 90, 174. 
Adjective clause, 70, 197. 

connectives of, 197. 

restrictive and unrestrictive, 67. 

use of, 197. 
Adjective phrase, 190. 

syntax of, 90. 
Adjective pronoun, classes of, 72-74. 

definition of, 48. 

distinguished from adjective, 71. 



Adverb, comparison of, 146. 

conjunctive, 144, 145. 

definition of, II, 143. 

double negatives, 149. 

expressions modified by, 143. 

in analysis, 190. 

in -ly, distinguished from adjec- 
tives, 146. 

interrogative, 144, 145. 

parsing of, 147. 

position of, 148. 

simple, 144. 

syntax of, 148, 149, 181. 

variously used, 145. 
Adverbial clause, 153. 

kinds of, 198. 
Adverbial objective, defined, 35. 

in analysis, 190. 
Agreement, of adjective and noun, 
90. 

of pronoun and antecedent, 49, 

75-78. 

of verb and subject, 105, 137. 
Agree to, agree with, 166. 
Among, between, use of, 166. 
An, use of, 93, 94. 
Analysis, definition of, 8, 185. 

of complex sentence, 69, 195-201. 

of compound sentence, 201-204. 

of interrogative sentence, 56, 192. 

of simple sentence, 186-195. 

preliminary outline of, 14-17. 

uses of, 14. 
Antecedent, agreement of pronoun 
with, 75-78. 

5 



2l6 



INDEX 



Antecedent, how to find, 60. 

meaning of term, 53. 

of indeterminate gender, 49. 
Any, as adjective, 85. 

as pronoun, 48. 
Anybody else, pronoun, 75. 
Apostrophe, uses of, 36, 37, 44. 
Apposition, first person by, 40. 

nominative words in, 34, 54. 

objective words in, 35. 

possessive of nouns in, 41. 

punctuation of words in, 45. 
Article, classes of, 94. 

office of, 93. 

syntax of, 94, 95, 175. 
As, subordinate conjunction, variously 
used, 155. 

syntax of, 160. 
As if, as though, 160. 
Assets, singular of, 29. 
Auxiliary verb, 98. 

Bandit, plurals of, 32. 
Be, auxiliary verb, 98. 

conjugation of, 109, no, 114. 
Beau, plural of, 32. 
Beside, besides, 166. 
Between, among, 166. 
But, syntax of, 149. 

uses of, 151, 163, 164. 
But what, syntax of, 159. 

Can, could, 123. 

Capital letter, rules for, 43, 140. 

Cardinals, 85. 

Case, definition of, ^^. 

nominative uses of noun, 34. 

nominative uses of personal pro- 
noun, 54. 

objective uses of noun, 35. 

objective uses of personal pronoun, 

54- 

possessive uses of noun, 36. 
possessive uses of personal pro- 
noun, 55. 



Cause, adverb of, 145. 

clause of, 198. 

conjunction of, 154. 
Cherub, plurals of, 32. 
Clause, adjective, 70. 

adverbial, 153. 

contracted, 156, 199, 202. 

coordinate, or unrestrictive, 67. 

definition of, 47. 

kind determined by use, 153. 

main or independent, 69. 

noun, 70. 

object of preposition, 162, 196. 

restrictive, 67. 

subordinate or dependent, 69. 
Collective noun, nature of, 22. 

syntax of, 77, 137, 138. 
Colon, 140. 
Comma, 45, 67, 140. 
Common noun, classes of, 22. 

definition of, 21. 
Comparative degree, of adjectives, 87, 
90. 

of adverbs, 146. 
Comparison, conjunctions of, 154. 

of adjectives, 86, 87. 

of adverbs, 146. 
Complement, of verb, 17, 34, 35, 188. 

of verbal, 188. 

plural after singular verb, 137. 

retained with passive verb, 188. 
Complete predicate and subject, 15, 

.87. 

Complex sentence, adjective clauses 
of, 70, 197. 

adverbial clauses of, 198, 199. 

analysis of, 195-201. 

definition of, 69, 195. 

form for analysis of, 199. 

noun clauses of, 196, 197. 
Compound, gender shown by, 25. 
Compound noun, possessive of, 38. 
Compound personal pronoun, 55. 
Compound predicate, 192. 



INDEX 



217 



Compound relative pronoun, 65. 
Compound sentence, analysis of, 
201-204. 

contraction of, 202. 

definition of, 201. 

form for analysis of, 203. 

members of, 202. 
Compound subject, 192. 
Compound words, plural of, 31. 

possessive of, 38. 
Concession, clause of, 199. 

conjunction of, 154. 
Conclusion, subjunctive in, 112. 
Condition, clause of, 199. 

conjunction of, 154. 

contrary to fact, ill, 112. 
Confer on, confer with, 166. 
Conjugation, definition of, 114. 

oibe, 109, no, 114. 

of speak, 115. 
Conjunction, coordinate, 151, 152. 

correlative, 156. 

definition of, II, 151. 

parsing of, 156. 

shifting of, 155. 

subordinate, 151, 154. 

syntax of, 158-160, 182-184. 
Conjunctive adverbs, definition of, 

144, 145. 
Conjunctive pronoun. See Relative 

pronoun. 
Contracted sentence, analysis of, 
156, 199, 202. 

syntax of, 159. 
Contrast, conjunction of, 15 1. 
Coordinate conjunction, classes and 
office of, 151. 

correlative, 156. 

syntax of, 158. 
Coordinate relative clause, 67. 

Declarative sentence, 185. 
Declension, of interrogative pro- 
noun, 59. 



Declension, of noun, 38. 

of personal pronoun, 48. 

of relative pronoun, 63. 
Defective verb, 122, 123. 
Definite article, 93. 

syntax of, 94. 
Definite tenses, of active voice, 100. 

of passive voice, 104. 
Degree, clause of, 198. 

conjunction of, 154. 

interrogative adverb of, 145. 

simple adverb of, 144. 
Degrees of comparison, 86, 87. 

syntax of, 90, 91. 
Demonstrative adjective, 83, 85. 

syntax of, 90. 
Dependent clause, adjective, 70, 
197. 

adverbial, 198. 

definition of, 69. 

noun, 70, 196. 
Descriptive adjective, 8^, 84. 

three positions of, 89. 
Differ from, differ with, 166. 
Direct object, definition of, 15, 187. 

explanation of, 15. 

noun, 35. 

personal pronoun, 54. 

words used as, 188. 
Direct question, adverbs in, 145. 

analysis of, 56, 192. 

shall in, 1 24. 

verb phrases of, 117. 
Direct quotation, 140, 141. 
Disappointed in, disappointed of, 

166. 
Discourse, direct and indirect, 140, 

141. 
Distributive adjective, 85. 
Double comparative, 91. 
Double possessive, 37. 
Double relative pronoun, 64. 
Double superlative, 91. 
Drake, duck, 27. 



2l8 



INDEX 



Each, adjective, 85. 

adjective pronoun, 73. 

syntax of, 77, 137. 
Each other, 74. 
" Editorial we" 50. 
Either, adjective, 85. 

adjective pronoun, 73. 

correlative, 156. 

syntax of, 158. 
Elements, main or principal, 14, 16, 
186-192. 

subordinate, 15, 186-192. 
Ellipsis. See Omission. 
Emphatic forms of verbs, 116. 
-en, plural suffix, 28. 
Enlargement of predicate, 190. 

of subject, object, complement, 189. 
-es, plural suffix, when used, 28. 
-ess, forming feminine, 26. 
Every, adjective, 85. 

syntax of words modified by, 137. 
Exclamation, in analysis, 191. 

nominative of, 34. 

objective of, 54. 
Exclamatory sentence, 185. 
Expect, etc., with infinitive, 139. 

False syntax, exercises in, 168-184. 
Feminine gender, definition of, 24. 

formed from masculine, 26. 
Foreign words, gender forms, 27. 

number forms, 29, 32. 
Former, the, adjective, 86. 

pronoun, 72. 
Formula, plural of, 32. 
Future perfect tense, 100. 
Future tense, 99, 100. 

present, used for, 102. 

Gender of nouns, 24-27. 
of pronouns, 48, 49. 
Genii, geniuses, 30. 

Gerund and other -ing words, 130- 
132. 



Gerund, parsing of, 134, 135. 

syntax of, 139, 180. 
Got, gotten, 1 20. 
Grammar, definition and divisions of, 

7,8. 

H, an before, 94. 
Hanged, hung, 120. 
Hardly, syntax of, 149. 
He, she, it, declension of, 48. 
How for that, syntax of, 160. 

/, personal pronoun, 48. 
Idiom, double possessive, 37. 

in parsing, 40. 

in use of prepositions, 162. 

meaning of, 37. 

uses of it, 51. 

with passive verb, 188. 
//*" omitted, 112. 
Imperative sentence, 185. 
Imperative verb, 107, 108, 141. 
Imperfect participle, in phrase, 101. 

tense of, 126. 
Impersonal subject, 52. 
In and into, 166. 
Indefinite adjective, 85. 
Indefinite article, 94, 95. 
Indefinite pronoun, 64, 65. 
Indefinite tenses, 100. 
Independent clause, 69, 195. 
Independent nouns, 34. 

in analysis, 191. 

punctuation of, 45. 
Indexes, indices, 30. 
Indicative mood, 107. 
Indirect discourse, 140, 141. 
Indirect object, noun, 35. 

pronoun, 54, 190. 
Indirect question, 65. 
Indirect quotation, 140, 141. 
Infinitive, definition of, 128. 

general description of, 96. 

parsing of, 133, 134. 



INDEX 



219 



Infinitive, syntax of, 139. 

table of forms and phrases, 1 28. 

uses of, 129. 
Infinitive phrase, 190, 191. 
Inflections of adjective, 86-88. 

of adverb, 146, 

of noun, 24-40. 

of pronoun, 48-64, 72. 

of verbal, 126-131. 

of verb, 99-124. 
-ing, words in, 132. 
Interjection, 13, 167. 
Interrogation point, 57, 140. 
Interrogative adverb, definition of, 

144, 145. 
Interrogative pronoun, declension of, 

59- 

definition of, 47. 

in indirect questions, 65. 

office of, 56. 

syntax of, 79. 

what, which, uses of, 58. 

who, use of, 57. 
Interrogative sentence, 57, 185, 192. 
Interrogative verb phrase, 117. 
Intransitive verb, 1 7, 98. 
Inverted order, analysis of, 56, 192. 
Irregular comparison, of adjective, 
88. 

of adverb, 146. 
Irregular weak verb, 120. 
//introductory, in analysis, 192. 

special uses of, backward refer- 
ence, 51, 52. 

Joint ownership, possessive of, 41. 

Kind, these kind, syntax of, 90. 

Latter, the, adjective, 85. 

pronoun, 72. 
Lay, lie, distinguished, 121. 
Less, least, in comparison, 87. 
Let, in imperative phrase, 107. 



Letters, signs, etc., 43. 

plural of, 32, 44. 
Like, 160, 163. 

Logical subject after it, 52, 192, 196. 
-ly, words in, distinguished, 146. 

Manner, adverbs of, 144, 145. 

clause of, 198. 

conjunction of, 154. 
Many, comparison of, 88. 
Masculine gender, definition of, 24. 

for indeterminate gender, 50. 
Material noun, definition of, 22. 

plural of, 29. 
May, might, 123. 
Means, singular or plural, 30. 
Members of compound sentence, 202. 
Memorandum, plural of, 32. 
Modifier, adjective, 89, 90. 

adverb, 148. 

of predicate, 190. 

of subject, 189. 
Mood, definition of, 106. 

imperative, 107. 

indicative, 107. 

subjunctive, 108, in. 
More, most, in comparison, 87, 88, 146. 
Much, comparison of, %%, 146. 
Mussulman, plural of, 31. 
Must, defective verb, 123. 

Near, 163. 

Negative, double, 149. 
Negative verb phrase, 117. 
Neither, adjective, 85. 

adjective pronoun, 73. 

conjunction, 151. 

syntax of, 158. 
Neuter nouns, two kinds of, 24. 
Nezvs, singular number, 30. 
No, in analysis, 191. 

subjects modified by, 137. 
Nominative case, of noun, 34. 

of pronoun, 54. 

syntax of, 78. 



220 



INDEX 



Nor, coordinate conjunction, 151. 

subjects connected by, 137. 
Normal order, 56. 
Notional verbs, 99. 
Noun, abstract, 22. 

case of, 33-39. 

collective, 22. 

common, 21. 

declension of, 38. 

definition of, 8. 

gender of, 24-27. 

material, 22. 

nominative case of, 33, 34. 

number of, 28-33. 

objective case of, 33, 35. 

parsing of, 40. 

person of, 39, 40. 

possessive case of, 34, 36-38. 

proper, 21. 

syntax of, 41, 168. 

table of classes of, 22. 
Noun clause, definition of, 70. 

uses of, 196. 
Number, of adjective, 86. 

of interrogative pronoun, 58, 59. 

of noun, 28-33. 

of personal pronoun, 50, 51. 

of relative pronoun, 62. 

of verb, 105, 137, 138. 
Numeral adjective, S^ y 84, 85. 

-o 9 nouns ending in, plural of, 29. 
Object, direct and indirect, 187-190. 

of preposition, 162. 

syntax of, 78. 
Object clause with passive veib, 197. 
Objective, adverbial, 35. 

predicate, 35, 188. 
Objective case of noun, 35. 

of pronoun, 54, 78. 
Omission of object of preposition, 162. 

of personal pronoun, 80. 

of relative pronoun and conjunc- 
tion, 197, 198. 



Omission of -s from possessive singular, 

38. 

of subordinate conjunction, 156. 
One another, pronoun, 73, 74. 
One, the, the other, adjective, 86. 

pronoun, 72. 
Only, etc., placing of, 149. 
Order, inverted, 56, 192. 

normal or regular, 56. 

of modifier, 90, 148. 
Ordinals, 85. 

Other, with comparative and superla- 
tive, 90, 91. 
Ought, defective verb, 123. 
Our, ours, 55. 

Ownership, joint and separate, 41, 42. 
Oxen, plural form, 28. 

Pains, singular or plural, 30. 
Parsing, definition of, 40. 

of adjectives, 89. 

of adverbs, 147. 

of conjunctions, 156. 

of nouns, 40. 

of prepositions, 164 

of pronouns, 75. 

of verbs and verbals, 133. 
Participial phrase, 190, 191. 
Participle, definition of, 126. 

general description of, 96. 

parsing of, 134. 

syntax of, 138. 

table of forms, 126. 

tense of, 126. 

uses of, 101, 104, 120, 126, 189, 
190, 191. 
Parts of speech, definition of, 7. 

outline of, 7-13. 
Passive voice, analysis of phrase, 104. 

definition of, 103. 
Past tense for present time, 102. 
Peas, pease, 31. 
Pence, pennies, 31. 
Person, of nouns, 39, 



INDEX 



221 



Person, of pronouns, 46, 76-78. 

of verbs, 105. 
Personal pronoun, antecedent of, 53. 

cases of, 54, 55. 

compound or reflexive, 55. 

declension of, 48. 

definition of, 46. 

gender of, 49. 

no form for both genders, 49. 

nominative uses of, 54. 

number of, 50, 51. 

objective uses of, 54. 

possessive use of, 51, 55. 

solemn or poetic forms, 51. 

syntax of, 75-80. 

uses of it, 5 1 . 

we fur singular, 50. 

you, modern use of, 51. 
Personification, pronouns in, 49. 
Phrase, defined, 161. 

infinitive, 190, 191. 

kinds of, 192. 

object of preposition, 162. 

participial, 190, 191. 

prepositional, 161, 190. 

use of prepositions in, 161. 

used instead of possessive case, 36. 
Place, adverbs of, 144, 145. 

clause of, 198. 

conjunction of, 154. 

preposition of, 161. 
Pleonasm, of pronoun, 79. 
Plural number, of adjectives, 86. 

of letters, figures, signs, 32. 

of nouns, 28-33. 

of personal pronouns, 50, 51. 

of verbs, 105, 106. 
Politics, singular or plural, 30. 
Positions of adjective, 89. 

of adverb, 149. 

of correlatives, 158. 
Positive degree of adjectives, Sj. 
Possession, joint and separate, 42. 
Possessive case, double, of noun, 37. 



Possessive case, equivalent phrase, 36. 

of compound words, ^- 

-s omitted from, in singular, ^S. 

syntax of noun in, 42, 168. 

with gerund, 140. 

word modified omitted, 37. 
Possessive pronoun, 55. 
Predicate, complements of, 188. 

complete, 15. 

compound, 192. 

definition of, 14, 15, 186. 

modifiers of, 190. 

simple, 187. 
Prefix, definition of, 25. 

gender shown by, 25. 
Preposition, classes of, 161. 

definition of, 12, 161. 

idiomatic uses of, 162. 

parsing of, 164. 

syntax of, 165-167, 184. 

used as adverb and conjunction, 

163. 

various objects of, 162. 
Present perfect tense, 100. 

used for future, 102. 
Present tense used for future and 

past, 102. 
Principal elements of sentence, 14, 

186, 187. 
Principal or independent clause, 

_ 69, T95. 
Principal or notional verb, 99. 
Principal parts of verb, 118. 
Pronominal adjective, 86. 
Pronoun, adjective, 71-75. 

definition of, 9. 

interrogative, 47, 56-59, 79. 

parsing of, 75. 

personal, 46, 48-55, 141. 

relative, 47, 59-67. 

syntax of, 75-80, 169-174. 
Proper noun, definition of, 21. 

plura 1 of, 32. 

rules for capital letters, 43. 



222 



INDEX 



Punctuation, apostrophe, 37, 41, 44. 

capitals, 43, 140. 

colon, 140. 

comma, 45, 67, 140. 

interrogation point, 57, 140. 
Purpose, clause of, 198. 

conjunction of, 154. 

Quality, adjective of, 83, 84. 
Quantity, adjective of, 83. 
Question, adverb in, 145. 

indirect, 65. 

pronoun in, 56, 65. 

shall in, 1 24. 
Quotation, direct and indirect, 140, 

141. 
Quotation marks, 140. 

Reason, adverb of, 145. 
Reflexive pronoun, 55. 
Relative pronoun, antecedent of, 
case of, 60. 

compound, or indefinite, 64, 65. 

definition of, 47. 

double, 64. 

in restrictive and unrestrictive 
clause, 67. 

office of, 59. 

other name for, 60. 

parsing of, 75. 

simple, 60-63. 

syntax of, 79. 

that, uses of, 62. 

which, uses of, 62. 

who, uses of, 61. 
Restrictive clause, 67. 
Result, clause of, 198. 

conjunction of, 154. 
Retained object, clause, 197. 

word, 188. 
Rules for spelling, 26, 28. 

~s added to form possessive, 37. 
omitted from possessive, 38. 



-s, plural ending, 28. 

repeated to show separate pos- 
session, 42. 
Scarf, plural of, 29. 
Selective use of interrogative which, 

58. 

Sentence, analysis of, 14, 185-204. 

complex, 69, 195-201. 

compound, 201-204. 

declarative, 185. 

definition of, 7. 

exclamatory, 185. 

imperative, 185. 

interrogative, 57, 185, 192. 

simple, 14, 186-195. 
Separate ownership, possessive of, 42. 
Set, sit, distinguished, 121. 
Sex and gender, 24. 
Shall and will distinguished, 123. 
Should and would distinguished, 124. 
Simple adverbs, classes of, 144. 
Simple predicate, 15, 187. 
Simple relative pronouns, 60. 
Simple sentence, analysis of, 14, 
186-195. 

complements of, 188. 

compound elements of, 192, 193. 

definition of, 186. 

direct object of, 187-190. 

form for analysis, 193. 

indirect object of, 187. 

object of, 187-190. 

predicate of, 186, 187, 190, 191. 

subject of, 186-190. 
Simple subject, 15, 187. 
Since, conjunction variously used, 155. 
Singular number of nouns, 28. 

subjects connected by and, syn- 
tax of, 138. 
So, adverb variously used, 145. 
Solemn forms of personal pronoun, 

Somebody else's, 75. 

Sort, these sort, syntax of, 90. 






INDEX 



223 



Speech,, parts of, 7, 8-13, 21-167. 
Spelling, rules for, 26, 28. 
Staff, plurals of, 29. 
Stratum, plural of, 32. 
Strong verbs, 1 17- 119. 
Subject, after it, 52, 192, 196. 

complete, 15, 187. 

compound, 192. 

definition of, 14, 15, 186. 

modifiers of, 189. 

nominative of noun, 34. 

nominative of pronoun, 54. 

noun clause used as, 196. 

simple, 15, 187. 

things used as, 188. 
Subjunctive mood, distinguished by 
use, 112. 

explanation of, 108. 

forms compared with indicative, 
109-111. 

of verb be, 109. 

omission of if, no, 112. 

tenses of, 109. 

uses of, in. 
Subordinate clause, definition of, 69. 

kinds of, 70, 153, 198. 
Subordinate conjunction, kinds of, 

154, 155- 
office of, 151. 
syntax of, 159. 
with coordinate as correlative, 

156. 

Substantive clause, 70, 196. 
Suffix, definition of, 25. 

-en, plural, 28. 

-ess, feminine, 26. 

foreign, 32. 

-s or -es, plural, 28. 
Summary of elements of sentence, 16. 

of relative pronouns, 63. 

of words in -ing, 132. 
Superlative degree, definition of, Sy. 

how formed, 87. 

syntax of, 91. 



Surely, variously used, 145. 
Synopsis, meaning of, 1 15. 

of verb speak, 115. 
Syntax, definition of, 41. 

exercises in, 168-184. 

of adjective, 90, 174, 175. 

of adverb, 148, 181, 182. 

of article, 94, 175, 176. 

of conjunction, 158, 182-184. 

of noun, 41, 168. 

of preposition, 165, 184. 

of pronoun, 75, 169-174. 

of verb, 136, 176-179. 

of verbals, 138, 180. 

Taste for, taste of, 166. 
Tenses, definite, 100, 104. 

definition of, 100. 

future, 99, 102. 

future perfect, 100. 

indefinite, 100. 

in imperative mood, 108. 

in indicative mood, 107. 

in subjunctive mood, 109. 

past, 99, 102, 104. 

past perfect, 100. 

present, 99, 102, 104, 105. 

present perfect, 100. 

special uses of, 102. 

syntax of, 136. 

table of, 101. 
Than me, than him, etc., 78. 
That, adjective, 85. 

conjunction, variously used, 155. 

demonstrative pronoun, 72. 

relative pronoun, 62. 

syntax of, 90. 
The, article, nature of, 93, 94. 

as adverb, correlative, 145. 
The former, the latter, 72, 85. 
The one, the other, 72, 86. 
There, introductory, 145, 192. 
These kind, syntax of, 90. 
This, adjective, 85. 



224 



INDEX 



This, pronoun, 72. 

syntax of, 90. 
Thou, 48, 51. 
Time, clause of, 198. 

conjunction of, 154. 

conjunctive adverbs of, 144, 145. 

preposition of, 161. 
Titles, plural of nouns with, 3:. 
To, omitted from infinitive, 12;, 128. 
Transitive verb, 17, 97. 
Try and, syntax of, 160. 

Unless and without, 160. 
Unrestrictive clause, 67. 

Verb, active and passive, 103, 104. 

auxiliary, 98. 

conjugation of, 114, 117. 

defective, 122-125. 

definition of, 10, 96. 

direct and indirect discourse, 140- 
142. 

intransitive, 17, 98. 

mood of, 1 06- 1 13. 

parsing of, 133. 

passive voice of, 104, 105. 

person and number of, 105. 

principal, or notional, 99. 

strong and weak, 1 1 7-1 22. 

syntax of, 136-138, 176-179. 

tense of, 99-103. 

transitive, 1 7, 97. 

voice of, 103, 104. 
Verb phrase, defective verbs in, 123. 

emphatic, 1 16. 

explanation of, 96, 100, 112, 120. 

imperative, 107. 

interrogative, 117. 

parsing of, 133. 

passive, 104. 

syntax of, 139. 
Verbal noun, 131, 132. 
Verbals, definition of, 96, 126. 

gerunds, 130-132. 



Verbals, infinitives, 126, 128, 129, 139. 

parsing of, 133-136. 

participles, 126, 127, 138. 

syntax of, 138-140, 180. 
Vocative nominative, of noun, 34. 

of pronoun, 54. 
Voice of verbs, 103, 104. 
Vowel change, in noun, 28. 

in verb, 117. 

We, for singular, 50. 

Weak verb, definition of, 1 1 7. 

irregular, table of, 120. 
Wharf, plural of, 29. 
What, conjunction, 159. 

interrogative pronoun, 58. 

relative pronoun, 64. 
Whatever, compound relative pro- 
noun, 65. 
When, where, conjunction, 154. 

conjunctive adverb, 144, 145. 

syntax of, 160. 
Whether, in indirect discourse, 140. 

in noun clause, 197. 
Which, interrogative pronoun, 58. 

relative pronoun, 62, 63. 
Whichever, compound relative pro- 
noun, 65. 
Who, interrogative pronoun, 57, 59. 

relative pronoun, 61. 

syntax of, 79. 
Will, would, 123, 124. 
Wish, subjunctive, in dependent 
clause, in. 

in principal clause, III. 
Witch, wizard, 27. 
Words, misplaced, 149. 

in -ing, 132. 

in -ly, 146, 149. 

-y, plural of nouns ending in, 29. 
Yes, in analysis, 191. 
You, singular and plural, 51. 
Yourself, yourselves, 55. 



6 1909 



